Son Goku
by wAvybone
Summary: An alien baby is sent to Earth for protection from an all out war and extermination of his race, but ends up on a planet that's equally dangerous. Will this baby end up shaking the balance in the great ninja nations, or end up dying like the rest of his race?
1. Prolouge

_Ten Years Ago_

The mountains on the outskirts of Kumogakure were some of the best places for meditation. An older man sat down on the cliff with his eyes closed, simply becoming one with nature; breathing calmly, and getting rid of the troubles on his mind.

For the moment, it felt like no one could throw off his focus. The thought of that brought a smile to his old, wrinkled face. He had long, white hair that was currently flowing in the wind. The man's face was concealed by a fox mask, and his attire consisted of an all black long sleeve, and matching pants. He wore the usual Kumogakure jounin flak-jacket over his outfit, with his head band tied around his right arm.

He continued his deep meditation, letting his energy flow freely. As a result, electricity crackled all around his body. He let out one last breath and let his energy fall, and pushed himself off of the ground.

Behind him, there was a small hut, which he identified with as a home. He was walking to go inside, but as he was about to slide open the door; he heard a loud crash. He turned around, seeing that not too far from his house; there was a giant plume of smoke that could probably be seen from the village. It was followed by the appearance of a large chakra signature he couldn't identify.

As a shinobi of Kumogakure, it was his job to go and investigate. He went to the edge of the cliff and placed his hands on his hip, and quietly sighed. The man felt other shinobi already moving quickly toward the scene, but he was lucky enough to be the closest to the crash site.

In a flash of electricity, he disappeared, and could be seen jumping from mountain to mountain to close the distance. He didn't know what he would possibly be coming across, but he mentally prepared himself before he dropped down to the site of the loud crash.

When he arrived, he saw two rogue ninja already there. He groaned, "You two, get out of here. This is Kumogakure business." He looked past them to see a large metal pod, steaming as it sat in the debris of a crushed boulder.

One of the ninja laughed, "That's hilarious!"

The other quickly ran through hand seals before taking in a deep breath and shooting out a large blast of fire, that expanded and turned into a wall when it connected with the man.

The two shinobi turned and laughed to each other, "Wow, I can't believe it was that easy!" They yelled in unison.

Their celebration was cut short by a kunai knife landing in between them, with an explosive tag tied to the end of it. They both shot each other a look, "Damn," one of them mumbled. They knew they would have to leave the site for a moment, both of them splitting in the opposite direction.

When the tag burned all the way, there was a simple poof of smoke; as it turned out to be the man from before. There wasn't a scratch on him, he formed two clones quickly and they left to pursue the rogue ninja.

He now turned his attention to the metal pod. The man was more than confused as to what was going on. It was silver, with a small red-ish window in the front of it. He walked up to it and tapped it with his foot gently, and surprisingly it opened.

His eyes widened behind his mask and he gasped once he saw what was on the inside. He took a step closer to get a better look.

It was a baby! It was no normal baby, but a baby nonetheless. It cried and held its arms out for help like any other child, and the man had no choice but to help the baby out of the pod.

It was a boy, and the man found that out the hard way because he peed directly on his mask. The baby started laughing and the man couldn't even be mad. He ran a hand through the boy's spiky black hair and almost smiled, "Hey there kid," he greeted the child.

His eyes widened once he realized that the massive chakra belonged to the child, "Wow, you're strong."

Through all this he didn't notice that a tail wrapped around his arm while he held the child, "You're a weird one too aren't you," He laughed a bit to himself, before tickling the kid on his stomach and looking past everything weird about him, understanding he was still a baby. "My name is Gohan! What's yours?"

He knew he wouldn't be getting any real response, just a confused stare. Gohan still smiled, "I'll call you … Goku," He said as he looked at the boy's tail, "It seems fitting anyway."

A few moments later a squadron of Kumo shinobi landed at the scene, surrounding Gohan in an instant.

"Don't worry, I have everything under control," Gohan said as he turned to the crowd, still nurturing the baby. "There are rogues roaming all around here though. Not to take control of this situation, but I say you guys take this pod and hand it over to the ANBU, and report this to Lord Fourth."

One of the men stepped forward, he was tall and slim. He wore his headband over his eye, and his head was wrapped up in bandages. The man offered a light smile, "We understand completely, we'll trust you to relay this to the Raikage while we clean up the scene." His tone did however get serious, "You're being watched, so don't try anything with that kid, okay?"

"Yes sir," the man bowed respectfully before disappearing in a crackle of electricity.

The other man turned to address his squad, "Ok, lock down the area and secure the pod. We've got a lot of work to do boys."

. . .

(The Raikage's Mansion)

Gohan was slowly walking down the halls of the building while cradling the baby. As he strolled, a whole desk was thrown through the wall of the building; making him pause and cover the eyes of Goku.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN AN ALIEN!?" The Raikage yelled while looking for other things to throw in his office. Apparently he had just heard the news.

The masked man playfully covered Goku's ears, "This should be fun." He took another cautious step forward, right through the newly created hole and stood before the Fourth Raikage, "Yes, an alien, sir. His name is Goku actually."

"YOU NAMED IT?" The man screamed before slamming his fist against the wall, "WE NEED TO EXTERMINATE THAT THING IMMEDIATELY."

The Raikage's assistant wasted no time walking up to Gohan and removing Goku from his grasp. She cradled him close to her chest with a motherly touch that Gohan could never provide, "Raikage-sama, don't be irrational." The woman smiled at the baby and tickled its nose, getting Goku to laugh.

"This isn't your place to speak right now, Mabui!" A pointed at her with a shaking finger, "Keeping this child can only lead to nothing but trouble."

Gohan interjected quickly, trying to defend Goku, "Actually, sir, I see that our new friend can end up being a powerful asset to the village in the near future." The man's statement only got a grunt out of the Raikage, but he calmed down and seemed to be more interested. "Surely you noticed the abnormal amount of chakra this baby has."

The Raikage nodded his head, "I did, but we have enough targets as it is!" He instantly started shaking his head in disagreement, "With two Jinchuriki already in the village, adding another super weapon to the mix would only make us a bigger target to the other major villages, and it makes us seem suspect!"

The masked man sighed, "I still understand, but that's why we don't dress up this situation as chance to turn him into a military super weapon, but just a regular shinobi. Nobody has to know that we're harboring an extraterrestrial with otherworldly strength. We'll bring Goku along like any other shinobi and let him realize his potential along the way," Gohan walked over to Mabui and she handed Goku back to him, "There really aren't any cons to this situation, as long as we keep it as low key as possible."

A was now pacing back and forth, gritting his teeth through it all. He stopped in the middle of the room and shot a glare toward Gohan, "And what if he doesn't realize his potential?" Before Gohan could interrupt, A held his finger up to make him wait. "Or even worse, what if he gets too strong to the point where we can't control him, and becomes an international problem. Maybe even a catalyst of war? There's endless possibilities!"

Mabui decided to add to the conversation, despite being told not to, "Sir, you should consider that we took chances with Yugito-chan and Lord Bee, and they came out completely fine under the same conditions." She had a slight smile on her face when she saw the man's expression change, "Also the extra military power wouldn't hurt, especially if it was kept under wraps. Bee-sama and Yugito can be separated from their source of power, while Goku was born this way. That's extremely valuable."

A furrowed his brow and looked between the three people present, "Look," his tone was deathly serious, and it made a chill run down Mabui's spine. "I want this situation completely handled by the morning, and should anything go wrong; you fuckers better be running as fast you can, because I will make sure you're wiped off the face of the earth the minute it does."

The baby started crying once the room fell silent, and that moment helped Gohan grasp the seriousness of what was going on. He tried to calm the boy down but failed tremendously, "I understand." The man turned around and made his way out the door, and Mabui followed him out.

"Look, Gohan-san, I can take care of Goku on a day-to-day basis, as long as you look over his development as a shinobi," Mabui offered, smiling at Gohan who turned to look at her with Goku still in his arms, "I'm busy as Lord Raikage's assistant, but I can find balance."

"... Don't stress yourself out. I appreciate the offer, and I'll even take you up on it, but I don't want you to stress yourself." Gohan ended with a simple nod before continuing to walk away.

Mabui was confused, but she trusted Gohan for the moment. He was a wise old man and he seemed to have a lot planned for the future. When he was ready to hand Goku over to her, he would, and for the mean time she would stay patient.

. . .

(Mabui's House / 4 Years Later)

Goku sprinted full speed through the living room, being chased by Mabui throughout the house. He did a cart-wheel over her table, and landed perfectly on his feet on the other side. The woman wasn't as lucky, crashing into the table trying to dive for the boy. He could only grin and placed his hands behind his head.

Mabui looked up from the floor and shot a menacing glare at Goku, "When I get up I'm going to give you _hell_ , Goku." She pushed herself off of the floor and kicked the table out of the way. The woman pounded her fist into her open palm, "You NEED to take a shower before you go see Grandpa Gohan."

The boy shook his head and tried to back away, but in one swift movement; he was smacked on his head and onto the floor. She put her foot on Goku's back, "Now get your ass in the shower."

Goku still only laughed, "Okay, okay! I'll get in the shower Mabui-chan!" Once she removed her foot, he jumped up and dusted himself off. He had on a white t-shirt and black pants made specially for him, since his tail could wag happily. The only reason he liked to mess with Mabui is because she always gave him a good reaction.

Since Goku started developing his own personality, hers slowly started changing with him, and her patience had gotten very thin. She picked up new motherly traits that no normal twenty-three year old would have. The woman let out a sigh of relief once he agreed to take his shower, "Please hurry up, Gohan is a busy man." She placed her hands on her hips and waited for Goku to leave the room.

He didn't shower for long, but at least when he came back he was somewhat clean. Mabui picked him up and squinted her eyes, examining him up and down. The woman sat him back on the ground, "You passed, let's go." She offered Goku a smile and her hand. He grabbed it quickly and the two walked out the house together.

Since Gohan is normally stationed far outside the village, they agreed on a meeting point within it to make it easier for her. They had gotten access to a small dojo space that they could quietly bring Goku up to speed with. Their main goal was to train him like a clan noble would with their child, and make him the best shinobi he could be.

When they arrived, Mabui was surprised to see the Raikage himself sitting in a chair, with Gohan standing on his side. Goku let go of her hand and ran to give Gohan a high five, and when he attempted to do the same with the Raikage; he got no response. The man simply stared at Goku.

The masked man looked at the Raikage silently, and then back at Goku, "We're doing something different today, kid. I want you to show Raikage-sama what I've been teaching you." He crouched down and pat the boy on the head, "Can you do that for me?"

"You know it!" The boy yelled cheerfully, before bowing toward the Raikage. "I'm ready whenever you are!"

The man got up out of his seat and grinned. He punched his fist into his open palm, "Really?" He folded his arms over each other and took a step forward. A towered over Goku but the boy didn't falter, and he couldn't help but like that. "You can make the first move.-"

The Raikage barely got to finish his sentence, because Goku was more than ready. He quickly tried to punch the man in his knee, but he jumped into the air. Goku rolled across the ground and jumped back up. He got into a proper fighting stance, but instantly leapt off of his right foot and tried to punch the man again.

Instead of dodging, he held his palm out and stopped the boy's attack completely. He closed it into a fist and lifted the boy off of the ground and tried to slam him into the ground. Goku jerked his hand forward and then pulled back hard. He managed to free himself from the man's grab and flipped in the air, so he could land cleanly behind the man. A wasted no time turning to face the boy.

"Even if I am going easy on you, you're better than I thought," A admitted, "Gohan, you're doing a good job with the boy, but he's still not the sharpest kunai."

The boy furrowed his brow, "Huh, what do you mean, old man!?" He ran forward and jumped off the ground and tried to directly punch him in the chest, but the Raikage swatted him out the air like a fly, and sent him tumbling across the ground.

Goku gained his composure fast, jumping back up. He sprinted forward and acted like he was trying to throw another punch, and smiled once he saw A prepare himself. The man was ready to counter, cocking his arm back, but Goku slid right under him and jumped up just to kick him in the back. He only stumbled forward a bit, but it caught him by surprise.

The man turned to face Goku again and actually went on the offensive. He charged forward and got ready to punch Goku, so he could send him flying, but the boy thought he had an advantage with his quickness. The child tried to slide under the Raikage's body again, but the man changed his approach this time, and grabbed him by the tail.

'Shit,' Gohan watched from the sideline. He knew Goku's weakness lied in his tail, and he was hoping that didn't happen today.

The Raikage wasted no time with slamming the boy against the ground repeatedly. He noticed there was way less resistance this time, and with each slam there was a loud scream of pain. The man was weirdly amused by it, but it wasn't in his plans to kill the boy; rather teach him a lesson. He decided to ease up on the boy, fully extending his arm back, and then throwing Goku straight into a wall.

He laughed like a crazy villain, "That's for calling me an old man you fucking baby!" The Raikage walked up to a surprisingly resilient Goku who was starting to get himself together again. "You're a strong brat, I'll give you that, but you still have a lot to learn. I can tell you're going to be great at Taijutsu, but you need to learn how fully use chakra and ninjutsu or you won't be shit."

Goku grinned and wiped a small smudge of dirt off of his face, "Teach me something then old man!"

"Maybe when you're ready, kid."

. . .

 _I'm not really into long ass prologues, I just wanted you to get to know my Goku a little better. I'm going to jump straight into the main plot from here, hopefully you stick along for the rest of his journey._


	2. Graduation

_Graduation_

This had been the day Goku was waiting for, for quite some time now. He had a grin plastered over his face for a majority of the day. With all the training he had gotten over the last few years, he had no fears of failing any of exams, and only good times to look forward to.

All the other children in his class seemed to be some what nervous, and Goku came strolling in with an air of confidence. It was the life he trained for and nothing could shake him at this point. Some of the other students caught air of this and frowned, and mumurs spread around the classroom quickly about the 'cocky monkey.' It even got back to Goku, but he didn't pay it any mind; still keeping the smile on his face throughout all the insults his jealous class mates threw at him.

He had very few friends in the class, but the ones he did have; they got along great! There were three others not including himself that usually stuck together throughout all of their years in the academy. The first kid he had ever met was a boy named Krillin, who despite his young age, was completely bald, and had six dots on his forehead. Goku could say that Krillin was his best friend in the academy, because they had been through all kinds of shenanigans together. His other friend being a somewhat shy boy named Omoi, he had very short and white spiky hair. He always kept a lollipop in his mouth, and his personality never failed to enterain Goku. The last member of their psuedo-squad was a child originally from Kirigakure, who they simply called 'Kiri.' His real name was unknown, often going by 'N' to students outside of his friend group. Despite his mysterious history, he was a happy person with blonde hair and brown eyes.

That group of friends were known as slackers to a certain degree. The whole class knew they could be doing way better than they let on, but all they did was goof around during class. They weren't necessarily at the top of the class, but no where near the bottom. All four of them held a strong position within the general rankings of the top ten academy students in the class. Goku was closest to the top, coming in at #4, Omoi following closely behind at #5, Krillin was #7, and 'Kiri' or N was on the tail end at #10. When it came to the specific rankings, they all placed differently in the class, but held good overall scores.

Today was the day they decided to excel for once and get the hell out of the academy. There were two exams for them to take, one being written, and the other a practical exam to test the skills they had learned during their many years of training. Every one in the group of friends was calm and collected, except for Omoi, but only to a certain degree. A bead of sweat could be seen rolling down his face, as he thought about all of the possible outcomes of him failing this test. His parents would be _infuriated_. He let out a quiet sigh.

The attention of the whole class was brought to the front of the classroom. A man quietly started writing on the chalkboard, and when he turned around; he was honestly surprised he had gotten their attention that easily. He had smooth brown skin and spiky black hair with white highlights throughout the top portion of his head. He had a trimmed mustache and goatee, but he didn't look much older than the kids he was teaching. "I'm surprised you kids actually quieted down, but I'm sure you want to get out of here as bad as I do." He pointed at the board, "The first part will be the written exam."

Goku raised his hand, "How long will we have to take it, Baka-sensei?"

The newly dubbed Baka-sensei smiled, "You all will have thirty-minutes to complete the test. The questions range from World History to real life situations that might require some critical thinking. I hope you're ready." The man picked up a stack of tests from his desk and began passing them out to all his students. Once every student had a test, he smiled, "You may now all begin."

True to his word, he gave the students thirty minutes to complete their exams. Some of the more academically inclined students buzzed through the test quickly and with ease, while others struggled to answer the many questions on the test. Goku wasn't the brightest kid when it came to testing, but simply glided through the test; filling in whatever he thought was right. Omoi spent a lot of time on each question and ran the risk of not finishing on time. Krillin and N were doing well, pacing themselves and answered the questions the best they could. When the bell sounded and the test was deemed over, everyone's head shot up and they dropped their pencils. Only a few completely finished their written exam when they handed them in.

They would be told their test scores later, and they immediately moved into the next and final phase of the exams. All thirty-one students lined up to be tested in the basic skills and techniques taught to them during their academy days. Everyone seemed to be doing well, and this part of the exam went by faster than anticipated. Goku excelled in all parts of the test, and his extra training showed. Omoi and N did just as good, while Krillin struggled with certain aspects, but still did well. As for some others; who struggled to do _everything_ , weren't looking too bright compared to their classmates.

Once the exam was declared over, and the instructor left the room to compile all the results with the rest of the teachers; the students began conversing among themselves. The four friends came together and gave each other high fives, all assuming that they did well.

"Goku-kun, you're amazing!" N and Goku fist bumped each other, "I honestly didn't expect you to do that well."

"I've been training extra hard!" Goku pointed his thumb toward his chest and grinned, "I couldn't do anything less than awesome today. You guys did great too!"

Omoi scratched the back of his head, "They say there's still one more test once you're with your Jounin sensei... What if I fail that and get sent back to the academy?" The boy groaned at the thought of that happening but got flicked on the nose by Krillin.

"You sound crazy, there's no way _you_ would fail," Krillin grinned at his friend Omoi before fist bumping with him. That seemed to be a common thing between the group of friends, all of them smiling at each other.

The kids continued to talk about the future, and being a ninja. It was all so exciting and happening so fast. They would no longer be normal kids, and even be considered adults at a young age, so they could fight for their country and do missions that would better the village as a whole. Goku was nearly bubbling over with excitement at the thought of earning money and leaving the village.

Silence washed over the room as the proctor returned to the room with the results. Not everyone in the class was so sure of themselves as the four friends had been. They all stared at the man, waiting to hear what their future would entail. He smiled lightly, ready to break the silence. "I'm proud to announce that for the first time in history, all thirty one academy students have passed both graduation exams, and will move on to the next part of becoming a ninja." Two more ninja entered the room with boxes full of headbands, "I, Takeshi Baka, now pronounce all of as official genin of Kumogakure no Sato."

One of the men carrying the boxes snickered, "Ha, Baka." He said to himself, which in response got a stern glance from Takeshi. "Couldn't help it dude," He still managed to laugh to himself. The man ripped open the box with a kunai and started handing out the differently styles of head bands to the kids walking up to retrieve them.

Goku walked up and got a smaller, black head band that he intended on tying around his right arm. He was struggling at first, but a girl instantly glided up to his side and smiled.

"Let me help you out, Goku-kun," She tied the arm-band around Goku's right arm like he wanted. The girl offered a smile to Goku, "My name is Chi-Chi by the way." The alien boy was at a loss for words, and simply gave her a goofy grin back. She had tied up black hair, and wore a blue and red top with a matching skirt, with a red waist band, and matching arm bands.

Goku gained his composure and smiled at the girl, "T-Thanks, Chi-Chi." The boy ran a hand through his hair, which was currently tied up in a pony-tail, and held together by bands with large red ornaments on them. According to his adoptive mother, it was 'cute,' and he didn't like arguing with the woman unless he wanted a brand new bruise on his body.

"I'm going to do you one more favor," The girl grabbed the hair band from Goku's head and replaced it with one of her own. It was black and almost unnoticeable, "You look like a little girl with that in your hair, no one would ever take you serious." She cupped Goku's cheek and smiled, "But you're still kinda cute either way." With that statement, the girl walked off once their sensei was ready to start naming off the squads.

Goku was in stuck in a state of shock. Throughout his many years during the academy, no girl had ever treated him that way, and he had no idea what to do. Was that his girlfriend now? ' _No. No_ ,' The boy shook his head and placed his palm against his temple. He calmed down and decided to listen in.

The man went through nearly all the squads, and Goku still hadn't heard his name called. Krillin and Chi-Chi were grouped together, while Omoi had been paired with a girl named Karui, and N was paired with a quiet girl who he swore he had never seen before. Everyone was starting to file out the room to go meet their jounin instructor, and his friends said bye to him. It got to the point, to where the only two people left were Goku and Takeshi Baka.

"Son Goku, you won't be paired with anyone."

. . .

(Buffet, Kumogakure)

To say the least, K was an irritated man right now. He had been outside the village for quite some time, was called back because of a 'important mission.' He leaned back in the booth and frowned slightly after being brought back to Kumogakure under false pretenses. He rolled his eyes as the man before him was trying to reason with him. The man cut him off mid-sentence, "If it's so important.. Why can't you do it, _sensei_?"

The man before him had on a fox mask, and long silver hair, "I've been called upon to work outside the village, and I've taught the boy every thing I can." A smile crossed his face upon receiving a blank stare from the shinobi K. His onyx colored eyes were locked on his mask, while his arms were folded over each other. "Another reason being that I'm technically not a jounin, while you are."

K was mad for several reasons, even if his outward expression didn't accurately show that. His expression was blank, but he was just about ready to kill Son Gohan for trying to joke around and mock him during their meeting. They met a restaurant, which infuriated him, because he knew the man wouldn't take his mask off to eat, and K himself stated he didn't have an appetite after returning, but there was still a platter of food sitting before each of them. Secondly, he was brought here to discuss his new 'S-Rank' mission, but it was failed to mention that it involved the alien child, and his upbringing as a shinobi. Most Jounin would be ecstatic to take on Goku as a student, all of them begging to have him on their team, but K was a special case, and he didn't really care for the idea.

"It at least pays well," He tried to reason with K, "And Goku is a bright pupil. He could end up being one of the greatest shinobi ever if he's guided down the right path. Don't you want a hand in his development?"

" _No,_ " K stated flatly before sliding out of the booth and turned his back on Son Gohan. He wasted no time getting the _hell_ out of the Buffet restaurant. The man quietly joined the bustling village hidden in the clouds, as he tried to navigate his way out of the market district so he could go home, but as expected, he was being followed by a persistent Son Gohan. He stopped and turned slightly, "Was I not clear enough for you?"

"I guess not," Gohan stopped before K, "We chose you for a reason though, and I won't let you slip away that easily."

"Even though I've made it clear I had zero interest in doing it?" K had now fully turned to face Son Gohan with a scowl across his face. Money, power, and a chance at shaping history held no interest to the man, and he tried to make that clear when he spoke with Gohan, but the old man wouldn't let him leave.

"If nothing we have to offer interests you, why are you even a shinobi?" Gohan questioned as he took a step closer to K. The man stated earlier he had no interest in money, power, or changing the world. It confused him to no end, but he assumed the man was simply doing it to end the conversation and get Gohan off of his back, but it wasn't that easy.

"The simple things don't impress me," K's voice had no energy to it, and Gohan was disturbed by it. "Money, power, and fame. None of that impresses me, I just want to die without regrets, and see everything the Earth and _beyond_ has to offer. I knew being a civilian, I wouldn't be able to accomplish a lot of my own personal goals, so this is the route I chose to take." The man ended it there, having said too much for his liking.

"So why not take on a young apprentice, who only wants the same?" Gohan asked, and his voice indicated that he was pleading at this point.

"Because I don't want a mere child slowing me down," K knew the response he would get, so he decided cover the holes he left open. "No matter how skilled and powerful he might be, he doesn't have the experience to accompany me anywhere. He would only hinder me in the long run." There were other underlying reasons that he didn't feel the need to share, and he simply turned his back on Gohan once more and continued on his way home.

"How about this," Gohan's tone changed completely. He was no longer begging the man to teach his adoptive son, rather bargaining with him. "You can throw Goku any test you can possibly think of, and if he passes; then you have to take him under your wing."

"If he fails?"

"I'll teach you something new," Gohan had once been K's sensei quite some time ago, but he still didn't teach him everything he knew. There were things that K still wanted to know from the old man, since he was wiser than what he let on, and this served as the perfect chance.

"I'll consider it," K said before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Gohan smirked lightly, his offer had worked.

. . .

(Mabui's House)

When the front door of her home opened and she saw the newly minted Genin walk in, she was confused to say the least. The woman wasn't expecting him home for a few hours, and certainly hadn't expected him to be wearing such a sad facial expression. She instantly set her book down on the table and walked up to Goku, "What's the matter, Goku-kun?" The woman crouched down and looked him in the eyes, and he looked away.

"Stupid Takeshi-baka didn't want to pair me with anyone, and I don't even have a sensei!" The boy wasn't calling Takeshi by his actual name either. Goku pouted, "How am I even a Genin without a sensei!? Did they not want to teach me or something!?" He was now looking right at his mother, nearly demanding an answer from her, but she said nothing.

She looked down and frowned, "Goku, it's not that." Mabui tried to explain in the best way possible, "But you're no normal shinobi, I hope you know. They couldn't let just _anyone_ handle you," She patted the boy on the head. "This little mix up will be sorted before you know it." Mabui was going to make sure of it, because she knew who his sensei was, and apparently Gohan was failing to get on his student's good side, but the moment she was about to go and do something about it; there was a knock on the front door.

Mabui went to open it, and Goku stood behind her to see who it was. When she swung the door open, she was surprised to see one of the village's anbu, who was wearing a dog mask standing in the door way, "Son Goku," his voice was deep and resonated throughout the whole house. "You have been summoned to CORRIDOR K for your Genin testing." He reached into his pocket and gave Mabui a card before dispelling in a cloud of smoke.

The woman in turn gave the card to Goku, "I told you," She smiled, and he smiled back.

Before even reading anything on the info card, Goku took off and ran back toward the village. He was even more excited than before, and guessing a bunch of possibilities that might come with him visiting 'CORRIDOR K.' The thoughts only further energized him, and he took off with a burst of speed toward the village.

. . .

(Outside of CORRIDOR K)

This place was nothing like Goku had ever seen before, however, like most buildings in Kumogakure; it was built into the mountains. It was located in one of the most secluded places he had seen in Kumo. The windows were completely black, and Goku couldn't see through them. His eyes traced the building, looking for other oddities that he could use to help find the entrance. His attention was brought to the multiple ANBU members that lurking around the area.

The ones that were outside the building seemed to be just lurking randomly, almost moving without a purpose. Goku truly focused for once, and noticed at least one masked shinobi moving like he knew what he was doing. It was the same man that popped up on his doorstep. The boy immeadieatly gave chase, "Hey, do you know where the entrance is?" Goku furrowed his brow when he got no response and continued to run after the mysterious ANBU member. Surprisingly to Goku, the man actually started running away from him. From there he knew something was up.

Goku instantly started picking up the pace, trying to close the distance between them, but he lost sight of the man. He had slipped inside of a door, but Goku wasted no time launching himself forward and kicking said door right off of its hinges. He was breathing heavily once he had finally got inside, and was angered to see that the ANBU member he was trailing had completely disappeared within the corridor.

The place truly lived up to its name. Goku stood there confused as to what to do next, for there were an endless amount of doors in the long hall way. He knew not to go running into random rooms looking for the man he was chasing, so he decided to take the smart rout, and try to track down his chakra signature.

Throughout his many years, Son Gohan always applauded Goku's natural talent for being able to feel out other people's energy and remember it. The boy closed his eyes and tried to feel out the chakra he had just encountered, and was utterly surprised by the results he received.

He was only looking for one chakra signature, but instead found thirty of the exact same chakra. None of them were stronger or weaker than each other, and Goku didn't know which one was the original. They were all spread out throughout the corridor, in all of the rooms he could possibly go in. Only one would house the original, or source of the clones. The boy quietly groaned at this realization, but let a smile creep onto his face, "I know what you're trying to pull! Stop hiding like a girl and show yourself!"

The same booming voice began to fill the hallway, "Son Goku, that's no way to talk to your _sensei_." Where the voice was coming from was unknown, but it certainly startled Goku, and made him mad that he claimed to be his new teacher. "However, I will only go through with being your teacher if you pass my special test. Should you fail, you'll be sent back to the academy, or even worse; dropped from the program entirely." The voice laughed at the thought of Goku failing, and watching Goku impatiently look around so he could find the source.

"There's no way I'm going back, I'm going to kick you and your test's ass!" Goku shouted triumphantly.

"The test is simple," The voice explained. "You are to find me, the original. If you cannot fight your way through my special team, and get to me; you _fail_."

Goku nodded and drew a kunai from his weapons pouch, "You can throw as many of your pansy ass flunkies at me as you want you, I'll take 'em all down!"

"Good," The deep voice was pleased so far from what it heard from Goku. "You can begin."

The alien boy instantly used his sensory techniques to feel where none of the enemies were located. From what he could tell, none of them cared enough to mask their chakra, so he immediately rushed to one of the empty rooms so he could tried to get the upper hand on one of them.

Once he got inside, he realized that all of the rooms were connected. The room he was in was a small bedroom, with a dresser, nightstand, and of course a bed. There was a door on the other side of the room that connected it to the next room. When he got inside, he noticed that the chakra signatures were starting to move, and they were as close as the next room.

There were only two ANBU clones moving toward him, and he already had his kunai drawn. They quietly moved into the bedroom that Goku was in and there was a slight standoff. Neither of them knew about each other skills, so who ever made the first move would dictate the pace of the battle. The boy furrowed his brow before using his free hand to draw some shuriken and throw them quickly just to see how they would react.

Both ninja drew kunai quickly and blocked the throwing stars, before one of them leapt forward to engage Goku. They exchanged blows with their kunai, but Goku parried with a strong push, and quickly shifted to taijutsu, as he spun like a windmill and kicked the ninja in his side. Goku flipped while he was in the air, he then threw the kunai he still had in his hand and it planted firmly in the 'ANBU's' chest. He smiled when the clone popped and the other was now rushing him as he was getting ready to land.

The boy flipped backward and pushed off the ground with his hand to put distance between them. This clone seemed smarter than the other, still combating Goku with his kunai, but he made slight changes as to how he attacked. His strikes were clear and concise, and barely gave Goku a chance to attack; just evade. Goku decided to gamble and use his height compared to the clone's advantage and ducked from one of his kunai swings, grabbing the man's wrist in the process. The boy got low and swept the ANBU clone off his feet, before releasing his grip and jumping into the air.

The clone tried to jump back up, but Goku was clear to pin it back down with four more shuriken from his collection. With it being a direct hit, the clone popped from the impact. Goku made a mental note that they weren't that durable. He assumed that it was that way on purpose, and quickly went to retrieve his shuriken and kunai so he could reuse them.

"Two down.. 28 to go, wait, 27? Shit, I don't know," The boy shook his head and quietly readied himself for more.

With his small bout, he had attracted the attention of more of the clones. They were all starting to move toward his direction. With his mental note of how easy they were to pop, he decided he would take them out en masse compared to the one on one method they seemed to prefer.

Goku left the room he was in and moved on to the next, it was bigger, and had more open space. There were couches and a book shelf around the room, which he chalked up to be a living room, but it gave him more than enough room to take on an army of clones trying to kill him. He drew his lone kunai back out once he felt said army starting to move toward him.

There was at least twenty of them this time, compared the mere two that approached him first. Five of them immediately burst into the room and charged at him. All of them fought differently, some with kunai, others tried to range themselves, and then there were some simply trying to knock Goku out with their fists. The boy was quite elusive much to their dismay, and doing quite well at quickly dispelling some of them.

Goku was quickly stabbing vital points, sweeping them off their feet, and throwing shurikens all around the room. He flipped out of the way of a more melee oriented clone swinging crazily with his kunai. They were starting to overwhelm him, and one of the clones had actually gotten the drop on Goku.

From across the room came the clone sprinting, he leaped into the air and let his chakra flow freely through his right arm, and it began crackling with electricity. He cocked his arm back and tried to smash his lightning covered fist into Goku, " **Rai-ken** (Fist of Lightning)!" Goku narrowly dodged the fist intended for him, and had to roll out of the way of another attacker. He had a chance to see what the outcome of that hit was, and there was a crater in the ground.

The boy gasped as the clone simply ripped his fist out of the ground, and it was still crackling with electricity. Goku was still engaged with another one of the clones, and still saw through the side of his eye as it tried to charge at him again. The only clone to use ninjutsu thrust his fist forward, once again trying to catch Goku off guard, but the boy grabbed his opponent by the arm and flung him right into his oncoming attacker.

He was satisfied when both clones dispelled themselves as they accepted defeat. Goku was far from done though, ten clones from this horde still remaining and ready to fight him. He grit his teeth, now knowing that these clones could use ninjutsu even though he was taught otherwise, "What the hell are you guys!?" Normal clones were just used as a distraction, while these fought with him, and actually existed to a certain extent.

The boy decided to take the iniative and close the distance between him and remainder of the clones. They were obviously weak, but they had numbers on their side. He withdrew the last of shuriken and threw them through the crowd of clones, only managing to get two of them to pop from being unprepared. The rest wasted no time and tried to pounce on him.

Goku quickly rolled out of the way and ended up next the book shelf. Oddly enough he started taking the books off the shelves, and pumped them up with his own chakra before throwing them off like they were shuriken, "I knew these oversized blocks would be useful one day," Two more clones were taken down after being hit in the gut with an encyclopedia.

He smiled before all six of them charged at him at full speed. Goku got into a fighting stance, and the first clone to leap out received an open palm strike to the chest from the boy. It popped instantly, and the remaining five surrounded Goku. His eyes moved quickly, trying to find a way out of his delimma. One of the clones charged at him from behind, but he was quicker in his attack; the boy thrust his elbow backward and connected with the clone's gut, and he dispelled it by pivoting on his foot and delivering a mean uppercut to his jaw.

The clone popped, and the rest moved in to assault Goku. One threw a misguided punch, which Goku easily evaded, and grabbed the back of the man's shirt. With all of his might, Goku slammed the clone into the ground causing it to dispell. He quickly twisted his body to face another oncoming clone. The boy charged his fist with chakra for a brief moment before punching the clone directly in the gut, and his chakra exploding outward. Having grown accustomed to the exploding clones, he moved through the smoke and caught the other off gaurd with a powerful kick, and knocked him onto the ground. That left one last clone, both of them stood there in silence, and the clone made the first move.

It pumped chakra into its arm and thrust it forward, but Goku parried and pushed it backward. The boy rushed forward and kicked his leg out trying to connect with the chest, and it slammed him into the ground. It drew a kunai and tried to stab down, but Goku reacted in a split second by catching it between his hands. The clone drew Goku's blood, but it didn't affect the boy, as he kicked his feet out and got the clone to jump back.

This last clone was extremely intelligent for some reason, and way more resilient. Goku groaned and wiped the blood on his pants leg, "Mabui-chan's going to kill me," He mumbled to himself. One would think that would be the last of his concerns right now, but that was Goku. He had no weapons left, so he had nothing but his fists to defend himself.

The boy ran directly at the clone and let his chakra flow freely. It became visible in the air, like an eletric blue aura radiating around him. The boy had almost become a blue blur to the clone. He cocked his arm back, "Take this you chump!" He thrust it forward at the clone, who tried to block his powerful punch, but the force behind this attack itself sent the clone crashing into the wall, and 'poofing' out of existence. He buckled over from exhaustion, "I still don't know what to call that one," He said to himself tiredly, as he slowly regained his energy.

He decided to feel out the energy one last time, and his eyes widened. There was one large chakra signature, and still five others that were the same level he had been fighting. Goku honed in on the large signature, and it was at the end of the corridor. The boy immediately burst of the room and back into the main hall way. He started sprinting down the hall, full of excitement. Goku was getting way closer to meeting his actual sensei and not some random clone trying to kill him.

As he neared the end of the hall, there was large set of double doors that led to the biggest room in the corridor. A clone instantly poofed into existence right before it to prevent Goku from going any further, but he wasn't trying to waste anymore time. The boy streamed his chakra to his foot and leapt off of it with an enhanced burst of speed, before kicking his leg out and pushing the clone straight through the set of double doors, and effectively knocking them down.

He was absolutely irritated, and it was seen when he burst into the room breathing heavily and ready to shout. The room he entered was an empty white space, but no one was in sight. The boy yelled out, "I'm done playing games, show yourself!" His attention was brought to the ceiling of the room. The man he had been looking for this whole time was standing upside down, and looking down on Goku.

He wore the same dog mask the rest of the cloned ANBU wore. The man was clad in all black, and flak jacket that stopped at his mid-riff. He laughed lightly when Goku voiced his frustration. The room was filled with silence after that, and he let the mask concealing his face fall off and break against the tiled floor. It revealed an oddly stoic face, as his onyx eyes locked onto Goku. He smiled ever so slightly.

"Come down here and face me, right now!" Goku stomped his foot against the ground. The man gave him no response to his initial demand, "I said right _NOW_!"

"It's nice to finally meet you too, Son Goku."

. . . 

Next Chapter: _The Limitless K_


	3. The Limitless K

_The Limitless K_

"Huh, you know me?" Goku had let his guard fall considerably as he folded his arms and looked up at his new 'sensei.'

"Of course, Goku-kun," The man standing on the ceiling blankly stared at Goku. His expression and tone of voice didn't match his words at all. "You are the talk of the town after all, some might even call you a prodigy." He complimented the boy, as he dropped down from the roof and stood in the middle of the room.

Goku scratched his head and smiled, "Prodigy?" He had never heard that one before, but he certainly trained like one. "How come Takeshi-sensei told me I didn't have a sensei then, and I don't have a team. This is all wrong."

"You're the first genin ever to defeat my clones and locate me, and trust me; there have been many others before you," The man walked up to Goku and patted him on the head. "I was wrong about you."

Despite the man's stoic expression and dead tone of voice, Goku felt the sincerity in his words, "Wrong?" The boy looked up with a confused face.

"I didn't want to teach you," The man admitted honestly. "I hate children," He added as he looked at Goku, "but you're special, just like they all tried to tell me. With that being said, I think you're worthy of being called my pupil. My name is K, and from now on I'll be your sensei."

"Awesome!" Goku exclaimed as he extended his fist toward K. The man simply looked at his fist with his same blank stare, but he respected the fist bump and extended his own fist and bumped it with Goku's. The boy couldn't hold back his laughter and excitement, and K took notice.

"I won't be going easy you," K grabbed Goku by the back of his shirt and lifted him off of the ground. He made sure their eyes locked onto each others, "One slip up and I'm dropping you like a bad habit." The man released his grip and Goku dropped to the ground quickly. K then proceeded to leave the room, "Come, we have much to do."

Goku quickly scrambled to get up, slightly scared of K, but followed him out of the room nonetheless. As they strolled through the corridor, he heard the sound of popping throughout the house, and he realized that it was the rest of the clones dispelling. The man walking before him had a sudden spike in Chakra, "Sorry for messing up your house by the way," Goku tried to make conversation, but got no response. He decided to instantly move to another subject, "I have a question, K-sensei."

"Shoot," K turned his head slightly so he could listen to Goku.

"Your clones, they were almost real. My clones don't disappear in a cloud of smoke or anything like that, and they don't make changes to the real world," Goku realized that he didn't really ask a question. He took a quick moment to regroup his thoughts, "I mean, my question is; how are your clones so durable? Is it like chakra or something?"

" **Kage Bushin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Jutsu)," K informed his new pupil. "It splits the users chakra evenly between the clones and essentially makes them real."

The boy nodded and continued to follow his sensei out of his home and into the village. He didn't fully understand, but he just assumed he would get it in due time. He wasted no time hitting his sensei with another question, "So when will you teach me my first non-academy jutsu? Oh! Oh! When are you we going on our first mission? And do you get paid a lot as jounin!?" Or a lot of questions. The boy frowned when his sensei didn't give him an initial response, "Hello?"

A bead of sweat rolled down his face, but he should have realized what he was getting into, "Your first new technique is coming soon," That was one answer. He knew Goku was expecting more and he quietly sighed, "And your first mission is coming sooner than you think." Little did the boy know, K was leading him to the Raikage's office at that moment to get their first mission.

Goku's mind was wandering aimlessly as he walked behind K. When he realized where they were going, he was more than excited. The Raikage's office building was getting closer and closer the longer they walked, he looked up at K with a smile, "Are we about to get a mission?"

"Maybe," His answer was very dry compared to Goku's. K led him inside the building, as he quietly greeted everyone he passed by. He was quite known and respected within the village, and Goku was now starting to take notice. The boy hadn't heard one story or any of his accomplishments, other than being a jounin. They were getting close to the actual office, "Goku, wait out here." The man didn't leave room for argument, as he entered the office and shut the door behind him.

Goku leaned against the wall and pouted his lip quietly, but his expression lightened once he saw Omoi, Karui, and a woman much older than them approaching the office. He smiled at the trio, "Hey guys, what's up!"

Omoi offered a light smile, while Karui full-on grinned at Goku. Their sensei was quite stoic in nature, similar to his. She was a blonde haired woman with blue eyes, and from what Goku could see; quite large breasts. His mouth could be seen hanging and a little bit of blood started to drip from his nose, "Who's in there?" She placed her hand on her hip and looked down on Goku, not even paying his perverted ways any mind.

Goku looked at Omoi first and mouthed the word 'dude,' and they fist bumped each other, but the stern glance from the woman brought his attention back to what was important, "My sensei, K, and the Raikage at the moment." He bowed respectfully, his mother having taught him better manners than what he showed. "My name is Son Goku, miss."

"The Limitless K, huh?" The woman nearly smirked, "Cool." She was impressed by only the name and almost forgot that Goku had introduced himself. "I know you, kid. I should introduce myself, I'm Samui."

Both of her genin had wide eyes, Karui being the first to shout, "YOUR SENSEI IS THE LIMITLESS K!? HOW THE HELL DID A DWEEB LIKE YOU GET PAIRED WITH HIM!?" The girl stomped up to Goku and punched him on the shoulder. He laughed lightly and tried to act like her hit didn't hurt, which it did.

"The same 'Limitless K' that once fought and took down the Yonbi _all by himself_?" Omoi asked, while looking up at Samui and receiving a nod. "I heard his physical strength is only rivaled by Tsunade Senju herself.." The boy was in complete awe.

Goku himself was impressed by hearing these good things about his sensei, at least now he knew he wasn't some punk like he initially thought.

The door of the Raikage's office slid open, and the mentioned man came strolling out, with Son Gohan following slowly behind. "I'm alright," The man stated dryly, before placing his hand on top of Goku's head. "We should leave now," He looked at Samui and offered his usual blank stare, and she sent one right back. It ended with them both smirking at each other, before he pushing Goku slightly.

"Bye guys!" Goku waved at his friends as they now entered the Raikage's office. He turned his head, and saw Son Gohan still trailing behind them without saying a word. The boy stop walking and turned to face Gohan, "Hey, Gohan-jiji, what's going on?" He smiled from cheek to cheek and offered his fist out to the man.

Gohan walked up to Goku and bumped fist with the boy, "Nothing much, Goku, but you've got a lot going on for you now, don't you?" Goku couldn't tell, but the masked man was smiling. "I'm in something of rush, kid. I can't wait until I can see you again!" Before Goku could interject, the man was gone in a crackle of electricity that he had grown used to.

The boy frowned, "He always does that!"

"I know," K continued walking, "But you're a ninja, so get used to those encounters, because _you_ and your grandpa are busy men now."

Goku tried to understand, and he ran after his sensei so he could keep pace, "So what's our mission?"

"We're to deliver a parcel to Iwagakure within a week's time," The man informed his student. He didn't show him the parcel, but he was to keep it on his person. "During that time, I'll show you that new technique." K promised as they made their way out of the building and into the busy village.

"What's inside the .. uh .. Parcel?" Goku questioned.

"A large sum of money, we're giving a loan to Iwagakure as a sign of peace, and to help them get stability, for their economy is beginning to fail," K stopped in the middle of the road, "Meet me at the village gates tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock, I have some business to attend to in the mean time." The man made a single hand sign, before he disappeared in a crackle of electricity, similar to Son Gohan.

The alien frowned, "I can't wait until I learn that technique."

. . .

(Son Gohan's Hut)

The man quietly meditated on his next plan of action within his home. The news that was dropped on him within the Raikage's office was heavy, and it directly involved his pupil. The man broke his focus when his door opened, to reveal his original student; K, who wore a visible frown for the first time in a while, "What brings you here?"

"Don't act like you don't know," He sighed as he sat in the same meditation pose as his sensei. "The intruder that the Raikage mentioned, he's not someone we can let normal ANBU flunkies handle."

Gohan nodded in agreement, "I understand, but until more information pours in; I can't go in and settle it myself." The man tried to regain his focus, but the thoughts were troubling his mind too much. "My best unit should be back soon enough."

"Can I get the full story?"

"A Leaf ANBU was caught trying to disguise himself as one of us," The very thought of it brought a pain to Gohan's chest, "He was gathering intel about Goku, his arrival, his strength, and origins. According to the other members, this disturbance could have been going on for up to a month. I don't know what Konoha plans to do with this info, but if we work quickly; we can eliminate this threat." He pushed himself off of the ground and walked out of his hut.

K sat there for another minute as he processed the information, and then he got up to follow his sensei outside. He wasn't quite sure himself why Kohona of all vilages would want to know about Goku, and all he was left to was his imagination. Information about Goku alone could start threats of a war, with him being talked about as super weapon that would increase Kumo's military power a great deal. It wasn't necessarily false, but they tried not to present it that way, for he was supposed to be a normal shinobi.

When he walked outside, he saw Gohan standing there leaking killing intent. There was a messenger pidgeon perched on his shoulder, as he stood there letting it all soak in for a minute. K walked up behind the man, "What's the problem, sensei?" He raised a curious eye brow, and the man turned to look at him.

"They've indentified the intruder as Kakashi Hatake, he was accompanied by one other who's name has yet to get back to me, but he's been murdered, while the infamous copy ninja is still on the run," Gohan was ready to explode, "We must hunt him down at once!"

"I'll handle it swiftly," K was about to make his leave, but Gohan stepped forward and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"You're not an ANBU operative, I'll handle it myself," The man was extremely upset right now and he felt the need to take things into his own hands. "Goku is going to need you more than ever soon enough, and I trusted you with his development as a true shinobi."

"But, you're the leader of the black ops. Surely someone else, if not me, can go in your place," K had noticed how deathly serious his sensei was, and knew he was talking to a brick wall at this point. "I can retrieve the copy-nin and be back before morning."

"No," Gohan wouldn't let the man slip away with information this personal, and he once again felt the need to settle the matter himself. Before K could further plead with his sensei to hand reigns of the mission over to him, his mind was set, and he disappeared in a crackle of electricity.

. . .

(Raikage's Office)

"THIS MEANS WAR!" A yelled at the top of his lungs as he wasted no time tossing his entire desk through the wall of his office, "HOW THE HELL DO YOU PEOPLE LET SOMEONE GET AWAY WITH SOMETHING OF THIS NATURE!?"

K was as calm and emotionless as ever, "It was _Kakashi Hatake_ , sir," he said as if that were supposed to make things better. He folded his arms over each other, "I think you may be overreacting. Calm down."

A's eyes widened at the man's statement. No one has ever told him to calm down in the heat of the moment, and he thought that his subordinates knew better. The Raikage only got angrier as he picked his chair up and tossed it directly at K, "YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN, WHEN KONOHA WAS RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSE!? KAKASHI HAS COUNTS OF MURDER AND HIGH TREASON ON HIS HEAD RIGHT NOW, AND TO ME THAT MEANS KONOHA WANTS WAR!" He punched his fist into his open palm, "IF NOT WAR, I WANT KAKASHI HATAKE DEAD IMMEDIATELY."

The man moved out of the way of the chair and continued to talk to the Raikage, "We don't want to play into Konoha's hands, Raikage-sama. For the time being we should let it be. They can't do much with the information on Goku," K was trying his best to reason with the angry man, "While it is a serious breach in information, it is not war worthy. We should take the smart route and slowly pick apart Konoha one by one."

The Raikage grit his teeth, "I want immediate action!" He pointed at K, "I keep trusting you people to take care of these things, so you damn sure better handle this swiftly, K!"

The stoic shinobi nodded his head, "I understand, sir." He bowed respectfully to the Raikage, "Once you and your advisers come up with a reasonable plan, I will happily execute it."

"I'll have it ready upon your return from Iwagakure, now get the fuck out of here," A demanded.

. . .

(Kumogakure Outskirts)

His house was already located on the outskirts of the village, and from the reports he had received; the ninja couldn't have gotten that far. He took off with lightning speed and made his way through many mountains in a short amount of time. From what he understood, Kakashi could've only been thirty minutes ahead of him, since he was delayed by having to engage a whole unit of his ANBU members. He shook his head as he ran at the thought of a single man taking down six shinobi, but he didn't think it was impossible.

Knowing how intelligent this man could be, he wasn't expecting to find him out in the open, but rather hiding away and trying to move in silence. Gohan knew all the tricks, being a member of the black ops himself for some years now. He also knew all the mottos, and followed them almost religiously. One of those being, 'never expect the unexpected,' which was why it was safe to say he wasn't surprised when he arrived to the scene of the battle.

The land was scarred by almost all the elements, a true testament of Kakashi abilities. There were no bodies left on the scene, all them being retrieved, and the copy ninja was still at large. The masked man stood there for a moment, before sending out a sensory pulse of chakra to try and hone in on Kakashi's location, and much to his surprise; a pulse of chakra was sent back.

The chakra signature was large, and absolutely no normal shinobi. Gohan knew it was the man he was looking for, and he didn't understand why he was making himself known so easily. He was almost hesitant to follow through with it, but he took off in the direction and covered the distance quite fast.

It was close to the border of Lightning Country, and it was one of the few areas that was vast and open. It was the area between two mountains, and Kakashi Hatake stood in the center of it with no fear. When Son Gohan touched down, leaking an enormous amount of killing intent, he didn't back down, and only matched the intent.

"Why did you stop, Kakashi Hatake?" Gohan opened the conversation with a question, "You had every chance to keep moving toward Kohona, you could've even been there in two days time."

"I could have, I still can, and I still intend to," The man in question was quite tall, and slim in figure. He had gravity defying silver hair that was very spiky, the man wore an all black outfit for this mission, and had his left eye covered by his stolen Kumogakure head band. He was even wearing a Kumo-nin's flak jacket, "But, naturally I wanted to further inquire about the information I've received. You never seemed like a close-book type of person, I figured I'd take a risk." He said smoothly, even though he was breaking a lot of rules just to act on a hunch.

"You would risk it all for this moment?" Gohan continued to question. Had it been one of his operatives, depending on the outcome; he would have called them an idiot, but he didn't judge Kakashi too harshly. He knew the man covered all of the flaws in his plan, so he still had to worry about the information reaching Konoha. "That's a bold move, Hatake."

"I'm aware, but like I said... I still have questions," Kakashi didn't seem to take the situation too serious. "I understand that Son Goku is an alien of sorts, possesses immense strength, and is designed to be a super-weapon, but what are your true intentions for the boy? I noticed that you had a strong personal relationship with him."

"I want Goku to be the best he can be, I truly believe he could be one of the most legendary shinobi ever based off of his willpower alone," Gohan explained to Kakashi, while consciously leaving out any important details. "It was never my intention for Goku to be the source of our military power, but rather a strong shinobi that will lead my country, or even the world to a better place. I see it within him."

". . . That's, interesting to say the least," Kakashi withdrew a kunai as he prepared himself for battle. "The reason I ask is that, the way I present this information to the Hokage will change Goku's future for the better ... or worse if what we suspected is true, and from what I've heard; I think we were right in our assumptions." The man lifted his headband to reveal a blood-red sharigan eye with three tomoe constantly rotating, "I present you the option of letting me leave, and I spare your life, or we can fight to the death and you die for no reason. Regardless of this outcome, my ninken are still making their way to Konohagakure at break-neck speeds, so my intel on Goku will still be circulating in the Leaf."

"How do I know you're not bluffing?" Gohan asked, drawing his own kunai and getting into a fighting stance. He knew hunting down and killing summon animals would be extremely easier than taking down Kakashi, his village had ninken of their own, and this would rid Kumogakure of any future problems from the shinobi.

"I don't," Kakashi stated flatly as he was the one to begin their battle by throwing his kunai, which was covered in lightning chakra. The man blocked the blade with his own but the kunai knife broke in half from the impact, and he quickly threw it to the ground. The copy ninja ran through a quick set of hand seals before taking a deep breath, " **Katon:** **Gōkakyū no Jutsu** (Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu)!" The man exhaled a giant ball of fire that was sent directly at Gohan, which he managed to barely dodge by rolling out of its way.

He knew taking on Kakashi wouldn't be easy, but he seemed ready for the challenge. He flew through his own set of seals, "It's a shame, had you not been a Konoha shinobi; I would have loved to have you as apart of my forces." The man charged up his arm with lightning chakra and disappeared in a blur to even Kakashi's eyes. The man quickly closed the distance between the two, " **Raiton: Rai-ken** (Fist of Lightning)!" Gohan thrust his fist foward and was surprised when Kakashi evaded the head on attack with a swift movement, back pedaling away from Gohan.

"I'm flattered," Kakashi said jokingly, as he did the same as Gohan. He channeled his chakra into his hand and converted it to lightning chakra, as the sound of birds chirping resonated through the area, "But I made a promise to someone and I plan to keep it, so I'll probably be in Konoha for a while." He had taken note that the man's jutsu didn't dispel, and his arm was still coated in lightning. Kakashi took this as a chance to guage the man's strength while still trying to do damage, as he took off toward Gohan, and he did the same to Kakashi.

The two met in the center of the clearing, clashing attacks. Both of them hadn't realized how powerful their jutsu were, and certainly hadn't expected the ground to shake for a moment. A small crater had formed from the power struggle, as they both tried to get the upper hand, but ultimately got blown away from each other. They both tumbled across the ground and instantly jumped back up.

"Why did they choose you, Kakashi? I thought you retired from the ANBU," Gohan asked from across the clearing, as he got into a fighting stance once again.

"I did," Kakashi explained, "But the Hokage couldn't see anyone doing this job other than myself. It wasn't considered a mission as a black op, but rather an S-Rank with a high-risk, high-reward scenario. If I do say so myself, I think there were better options, but .. here I am." The man deflected two shuriken with another of his kunai mid-conversation, as he got into a defensive position. "What made you join the ANBU?" He asked as he drew his own shuriken and launched them at his enemy.

Gohan had swift movements, as he cart-wheeled out the way of the shuriken. Once he regained his footing, he charged forward at Kakashi to engage him in hand-to-hand combat. He realized using certain ninjutsu was close to useless, because Kakashi had seen it all, and if he hadn't seen it; it would end up being used against him. Once the man was in close quarters of the copy ninja, he threw punches and kicks that Kakashi either blocked, parried, or straight up evaded. The man was skilled, "At first I was apart of overseeing Goku's investigation due to my involvement," Gohan guided Kakashi's fist out of his way and wasted no kicking the man in the crotch. He wasn't against low blows, "But as it started developing, I found a passion for moving in the shadows."

Kakashi tried not to show his pain, but it was too much. He understood they were shinobi, and anything goes, but his nuts should've been out of the question. That was just man law, and Gohan had broken it, "I see." With the sharingan, Kakashi's perception of time and Gohan's movements were slowed down and easier to predict, but the masked man was still damn fast, and Kakashi struggled to block his moves at some points. An open palm strike to his chest sent Kakashi sliding backward against his will, but he was powerful enough to keep his footing.

With the space Gohan had created, Kakashi wasted no time flying through hand seals, and creating a giant wall of rock that rose from the ground, "Why don't we kick this up a notch? **Doton: Doryūheki** (Earth Style: Earth Wall)!" Gohan was instantly put on the defensive as Kakashi began striking his own wall and sending out flying blocks of earth like projectiles at Gohan. The ANBU leader broke the blocks with his fist, but at some point realized there were too many being made.

He continued to dodge them as best he could and withdrew a kunai and an explosive tag. His target being Kakashi's wall, which he threw his kunai at and planted it within the wall. It only took a few moments, but the wall exploded and debris was being sent flying everywhere. Gohan smirked lightly, but was shocked to see Kakashi gliding across the ground easily on a self-made platform of Earth, and beginning to chase him. The man flipped backward and tried to escape the oncoming Konoha shinobi, but the platform shot Kakashi into the air.

While airborne, Kakashi channeled his chakra to perform his signature technique once again. This one how ever had been more powerful than his last, " **Raikiri** (Lightning Cutter)!" He dived down faster than any shinobi Gohan had ever seen and tried to strike him with the power of the revered Raikiri. The man wasn't fast enough to counter, but only attempt to defend himself, and he ended up losing his right arm in the process. The attack pierced right through his arm, but Kakashi retracted his fist and back pedaled away from Gohan before he could reach his torso.

The man tried to send his own lightning chakra outward in an attempt to diffuse the raikiri, and attack him at the same time. Gohan noted that his right arm was completely lifeless, useless, and close to falling off. Kakashi had effectively fried the nerve cells in his arm so he only felt the pain for a brief moment. He placed his working fingers to side of his face, "You're good, I'll give you that." The old man smirked, "But I'm better. **Taiyōken** (Fist Of The Sun)." Once he said that, the whole area was swallowed by a blinding light, that rendered Kakashi's normal vision useless for the moment.

Gohan used his shushin technique to appear behind Kakashi in an instant, with his only fist cocked back and crackling with a great amount of electricity packed into it. He thrust it forward, but Kakashi senses were better, and he was was quicker than the old man, so he pivoted on his foot. The Konoha ninja leapt backward, while drawing a kunai and infusing it with his lightning chakra. Gohan was expecting it to be thrown, but his eyes widened when a spear of lightning pierced through his chest, "H-How?"

"Your blinding light maybe have made my one good eye useless, but the sharingan can see chakra signatures," Kakashi kept his kunai in firm position. "I'm sorry it had to be this way-"

"Damn you, Kakashi Hatake!" Gohan yelled out in what he realized may have been his last words.

Kakashi slowly kept cutting through Gohan's body with his spear of lightning, and finally slashed through the vital point he intended to hit, and that was the heart. It ended the old man's life almost instantly, "But it's over.." Kakashi finished his earlier sentence as he dropped his kunai to the ground. He was mentally and physically exhausted at this point, but he couldn't waste anymore time. Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke, not bothering to deal with Gohan's dead body.

The Copy Ninja had gotten away.

. . .

 _I didn't have big plans for Grandpa Gohan._ Next Chapter: _Tardy Without Reason_


	4. Tardy Without Reason

_Tardy Without Reason_

Goku was tapping his foot impatiently. It was very early in the morning, and the only people at the village gate were the keepers and himself. The majority of the village hadn't even woken up yet, and the only reason he was here was because he was instructed to, "Where the hell is K?" He wondered aloud and got no response. His sensei didn't even appear in the signature crackle of electricity and comically say 'right here,' like he wanted him to.

The Gateskeepers watched Goku stand there losing his mind while waiting on the man. They both laughed to themselves, one of the men turning to look at the other. "Didn't he just get promoted to Genin yesterday, how the hell is he already leaving the village?" The man tried to ask under his breath.

The other keeper shrugged and made an unintelligible grunt, "He's special, I think." They both looked Goku over and tried to see just what was so _special_ about him, and the men both stopped and locked onto the monkey tail that was swinging happily while the boy waited. "I think that might be what makes him so cool, dude, look. He has a fucking tail, what kind of Kekkei Genkai is that?"

"I don't know, but it'd be damn cool to have it," The gateskeeper was jumping up and down like a child. "I wouldn't be stuck in this fucking booth with you if I could swing from trees like a super shinobi monkey child!" His voice got a little too high, and Goku quickly turned and shot them a surprisingly menacing glance. The man stopped goofing off and actually started doing his job at that moment. Even though the kid was harmless, he couldn't be trying to roam out of the village unsupervised, so he left to the booth to go talk to him.

"Who are you calling super shinobi monkey child, huh?" Goku asked as he walked up to the much taller Gateskeeper and punched his fist into his open palm. "I'll have you kno-"

"Chill little dude," The keeper smiled at the boy, "I didn't mean anything bad by it. I actually think you're pretty badass, but I still need to know what you're up to right now."

The child placed his hands on his hips and pouted, "I'm waiting for my sensei, K." The other keeper and come out to join the conversation, and they both raised a brow upon hearing the name K, "Yeah, yeah; the Limitless K." Goku rolled his eyes since he knew what made them react like that. At first he was impressed by his sensei's achievements, but now he was just annoyed.

"You're K's student? You must be special," One of the keepers said in awe. "I've never seen him be late for a mission, though." He looked to his partner for agreement, and he nodded.

Goku kicked up a small amount of dirt and frowned, "That asshole does a lot of things apparently," but the moment Goku voiced his distaste for the man's tardiness; a crackle of electricity sounded behind him, and he knew that he had arrived. Goku turned around to face the tall figure, visibly showing how upset he was. The boy pointed at a non-existent wrist watch, "Do you know how long I've been waiting!?"

"Thirty minutes," apparently he did know. K folded his arms, "Goku, I don't like impatient children."

"I don't like irresponsible adults either!" Goku pointed at K with a shaky finger, "I don't even get an excuse!?"

"I don't feel the need to give one," K replied smoothly as he started walking off. "Just be glad I'm here."

The alien's face was red from holding in his anger, but he stomped behind K regardless. He was mad about the man being late, yes, but he was still extremely excited to be leaving the village for the first time. He waved bye to the Gateskeepers, while he and his sensei began their journey to Iwagakure.

Naturally, he had questions, and K knew the impending storm was upon him, so he prepared himself for the rookies barrage of questions.

Goku opened his mouth almost as soon as they left out of the gate, "Sensei, I thought I was supposed to go on D-Rank missions before I ever hit the field. This seems a little weird."

"Well, Goku...," K tried to explain it in the best way possible, "You and I are a special team, far more skilled than our counterparts. We were put together to handle special situations, to say the least."

The boy was extremely satisfied with that answer, "Hm, must mean I'm important, right?" He grinned at his jounin sensei, and the man gave him a half hearted nod. That was enough to appease his initial question, but more still lingered in his mind, and K was full of knowledge. "When are you going to teach me my first technique? Ooooh, will it be lightning style? When will I be able to teleport? Can I even do tha-"

"All of this will come soon, but for now we must focus on the mission at hand," His head was already starting to hurt and he hadn't even been traveling with Goku for ten minutes. Maybe he truly wasn't cut out to be a sensei, because this kid was going to drive him up a wall. "When we get a chance to set up camp, then I will I teach you everything you need to know for this mission."

The extraterrestrial nodded in understanding, but then his face went blank. "What exactly is this mission about again?"

"God damn it, Goku." The man rested his head within his palm and mentally cried. He wasn't a big fan of outward emotion, other then that expression of frustration he let slip. "As I said yesterday, we are delivering a parcel to Lord Tsuchikage as a show of good faith. We hope to create an ally, by giving them a crutch to their otherwise failing economy."

"What good is that gonna do?" Goku itched his head idly.

"Having an eastern ally with a military as strong as ours could only benefit us. In recent years, Iwagakure has had a strong foot hold over that region, but it's no secret that that area as a whole is not experiencing any economic prosperity," K explained to an eager Goku. "With their help and cooperation, we could have the east and west locked down in less than a decade."

"Eh, that sounds like you guys are getting ready to start a war," The boy admitted uncomfortably. He had some violent tendencies as child, but growing up with a man as peaceful as Gohan, it slowly worked its way out of his system, or so he thought. The prospect of war made him feel uneasy.

"We are."

. . .

(Days Later / Konohagakure no Sato)

The Copy Ninja of Konohagakure had finally made it home after days of rigorous travel. He had been followed by more Kumogakure shinobi, and ended up handling them like the others that were sent for him. The man was going to need some time to get his mind right after being away for so long, and killing all of those enemy ninja. It had been close to two months since he had slept in his actual bed, and not living his undercover life as a Kumogakure Shinobi.

When he entered the gates, he was greeted by the almost infamous duo of Kotetsu and Izumo. The man with the bandage running across the bridge of his nose spoke up, "Yo, Kakashi! How'd it go?"

The Jounin walked into the village with his hands stuffed into his pockets, "Some might say bad, but I made it away with the information, and I'm alive." That was as much as he would share, continuing into the village, so he could debrief with the Hokage himself. The intel he had picked up was extremely sensitive information, and how they responded to it could change the world for the better part of the next decade. Looming thoughts of war seemed to trouble his conscious, as he was exerting a rare unpleasant aura as he made his way to the Hokage's office.

It was one of the biggest buildings in the in village, located right in the center. The Hokage's office was right above the ninja academy, and he offered a slight smile under his mask to the younger children playing in the court yard. His expression got serious when he walked inside the building and made his way up to one of the most important men in Hi no Kuni's office.

The door was wide open, and Kakashi saw that the Hokage had been waiting. He was an old and experienced man, who was currently smoking out of pipe. The man exhaled deeply and let out a cloud of smoke release from his mouth, he sat up in his chair when Kakashi had arrived. He set his pipe down in a respectful manner, "It took you longer than I expected," The Hokage opened the conversation, "But seeing that you're standing before me after two months must mean you were successful."

"I may have gotten a little side tracked, if I do say so myself," Kakashi admitted, the sound of the door sliding to close was in the background. "But I left with what exactly what we wanted. I'm assuming you looked over the light report I sent with my ninken." Hiruzen nodded his head and grinned lightly, "I tried to leave in the most discreet manner possible, but Son Gohan of Kumogakure sensed an oddity within my squad, and they weren't so polite with our late friend Kage."

"I see.. I'm simply glad you made it back, but what of ...," It took the legendary ninja a moment to recall the boy's name, but it finally came to him, " _Goku_ , what else did you learn about him?"

"As mentioned in the report, Goku is indeed from another planet. He arrived in Kumogakure ten years ago via an aircraft that was created by otherworld technology. It's far more advanced than anything we've seen here on Earth, and if replicated; could cut the time it took to travel to other countries in half... Possibly even greater," Kakashi made sure he didn't waste any details from his two months of research. "The now deceased Son Gohan was the one to discover him and pry him from the hands of rogue shinobi. They had a very personal relationship, and according to him; it was never in his intentions for Goku to be a military weapon."

"What then?" Hiruzen asked with a furrow brow, "If not a weapon, then what is he?"

"His goal for Goku was to be revered as a legendary shinobi, he believed the boy to be more than just a weapon, and a figure that could one day change the world. Despite his rather touching speech, all of the evidence still pointed to Goku being a hidden trump card," Kakashi partially believed Gohan's ideals, but he still had to go with the information he had acquired. "The true plan that the Raikage and his council saw for Goku was him to be the same type of weapon that a Jinchuriki would be, and he certainly has to the potential to do so."

The Hokage nodded in understanding, taking all of this new information in quite easily. The previous report he received from Kakashi hit all of the major points, but he was now receiving the small intricacies that he couldn't fit in due to his time frame. The man interlaced his fingers and instantly started plotting, "So they basically have another nuke-level weapon under their belt, I see. I noted that they trained him like a clan noble, so I doubt he'll fail in realizing what he could become." The man shook his head, "If we eliminate him now, we could eliminate any future threats." It was one of the more brash approaches he had taken in a while, almost sounding like one of his long time friends.

"I don't think we should take the offensive just yet, because I think we have a solution right here in our village," Kakashi grinned at the Hokage, as seen by his eye squinting slightly.

"The solution being?"

"Naruto, _our_ superweapon," Kakashi had thought about this during his journey for the last few days. "Goku is leaps and bounds ahead of him right now, but if we gave Naruto the same treatment; he could be even better. Goku's potential strength is only scary the because he's young, from another world, and houses an abnormal amount of power already, but he's still no jinchuuriki."

"I agree with Kakashi," Another voice entered the conversation. Both shinobi looked toward the window to see a man with long white hair tied into a ponytail and a serious expression on his face. He also had distinctive red lines on his face that went down his cheek, "Naruto could go down in the history books in terms of strength if you guys actually paid him some attention. I'm tired you people retarding his development by treating him like an outcast!"

"Nice to see you too, Jiraiya," The elder man nodded at the suggestions from both of his shinobi. "I understand you both completely, but I trust Naruto's development with very few people in the village, and both of you are very busy men. It'll please you to know that Kakashi will be his sensei in the near future."

Kakashi nodded to acknowledge the statement and looked at Jiraiya, "Today is actually the day." For the first time in a while, Kakashi felt butterflies in his stomach at the thought of taking on such an important set of kids, "Seeing where the world is headed, I think the pace we use with Naruto needs to be picked up. He's a smart child, but he's very misguided."

Jiraiya visibly frowned when he heard Kakashi would be meeting Naruto today. He now fully entered the building and closed the window behind him. "I'm glad to hear that, and I'm happy for you, Kakashi, but this conversation needs to be shifted else where." Both of the men present raised a curious brow and stared at him, patiently waiting for what he had to say next. "With the news of this new child, Goku; I decided to look further into it than Kakashi did. My spy network has found out about similar situations in Tsuchi No Kuni."

. . .

(Tsuchi No Kuni)

Goku whistled a jolly tune while he trailed K through lands unknown to him. He enjoyed taking in the sights that the new lands offered during his journey. The boy was also freely spinning a kunai around his index finger without a care in the world, "If this is what shinobi's do all day, this is EASY!" He laughed to himself, but his mood was killed once K shot a stern glance at him. Goku quieted down and continued to follow.

"Don't be foolish," K told his student as they passed through the less populated areas of the country. Parts of it was just a wasteland that he moved through cautiously. Ever so often, him and Goku would set up camp, and he trained with the boy like had promised, but he hadn't taught him that technique that the boy was nearly demanding every day he didn't have it.

The two were walking for hours through the country, and starting to get close to their destination. They would have to pass through a few more towns, but it wasn't something they couldn't cover in a day. The area they paced through at the moment was more desolate, and of course, had large boulders and rocks everywhere.

They were however approaching a large mountain, that separated the desolate area from what looked like to be a small town on the other side. There was a small cave passage that led directly through the mountain, and K found that very convenient. The duo entered the mountain and intended to calmly pass through, but he slowed his walking as pebbles started to fall from the ceiling.

He stared for a moment, and before he knew it; the whole cave was starting to collapse in on itself. The man quickly grabbed Goku and started running to the other side where they had come from. The boy was surprised, "What the hell is going on?"

"The cave is collapsing," K thought it was obvious, but Goku was a little . . . slow, to say the least. The Limitless K thought he would be quick enough to escape, but pebbles from the cave turned into whole rocks, and eventually large amounts of debris began falling that held the place together. It had the entrance completely blocked, and he had no choice but to drop Goku to the ground. The boy thought he was being abandoned and scrambled right after him.

"YOU'RE JUST GONNA LEAVE ME, DUDE!?" Goku yelled, but realized what was going on, as the man coated his fist in chakra and tried to force his way out of the cave. It was to no avail, and the team was stuck within the passage. Goku frowned and crouched down on the ground, "What are we going to do?"

"You thought I would just leave you?" K wasn't one to really have a sense of humor, but this almost made him crack a rare smile. He didn't . . . But it's the thought that counted right? The man folded his arms and walked up to the where the passage originally started caving in at. That side was blocked in by debris and oversized rocks as well, and for the moment it looked like they had no way out. "I've been in worse predicaments, don't worry Goku."

While Goku was crouched down on the ground, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. At first he thought it was because he was nervous, "Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?" A wave of heat washed over the area, and Goku thought his eyes were failing him, but ground was literally bubbling. He looked at K with a puzzled face, "What's going on?"

"We've been trapped," K shook his head, as the ground beneath him started to melt, and he was begin to lose his footing to the quickly forming magma. He was as calm as ever, while Goku was flailing his arms wildy as he sunk into the ground, and his skin was burning in the process. "Don't panic, Goku-kun, it's just an illusion. You're not actually being hurt." Seeing that his advice didn't do much for his pupil he sighed, "Just do what I do and dispel the genjutsu, Goku." The man withdrew a kunai, and was pleased when Goku did the same.

They both made a single hand sign, "Kai!" The sensei-pupil duo said in unison, as reality was slowly being restored. K had the kunai to defend himself from whatever reality had in store for him, and he wanted Goku to be ready as well. He expected to be subdued, harmed, or at least stripped of all his equipment, but he was completely free. The only thing that let him know of an enemy was the eight shinobi that surrounded them.

One of the members of the group spoke up, "I'm surprised you escaped the genjutsu that fast, we didn't even get a chance to tie you down," He, and the rest of the shinobi drew a kunai in unison.

Goku jumped into position behind K to cover his backside, "Let's kick some ass, sensei."

"Just wait, Goku," K looked around at the eight shinobi that were slowly moving in on him and the boy. "State your reason for doing this," He stayed alert through all of this, gripping his kunai tightly.

"We are Takigakure shinobi," The same man spoke up. All eight of them wore the basic Takigakure uniform, and face masks that covered part of their nose and mouth. "We were simply told to kill the Kumogakure shinobi, which is you, once they crossed Tsuchi no Kuni's borders. I'm not one to question orders."

"I understand," K looked at Goku from the side of his eye, and the boy met his glance. He gave a simple nod, and the both of them leapt out to engage the eight shinobi in battle.

K was almost offended that such a low level of shinobi was sent to kill him. When he jumped into the fray, three shinobi jumped right back at him, and he quickly disposed of them by twisting his body mid-air and releasing wind chakra from all of his tenketsu. They were sent flying in different directions, but each of them smashing into the wall of the now bigger cave.

Goku's approach to the battle was quite different, going for the more gory kills. He charged head on at the first shinobi quick enough to keep up with him, and jammed his kunai knife right through the man's chest. The other three shinobi were surprised by the boy's natural strength and quickness, but still moved in for the kill nonetheless. The alien quickly withdrew his hand from the new dead man's chest, and threw the blood stained kunai at one of his approaching enemies.

It was easily deflected by the shinobi in the middle, and he was the first to try to engage Goku. He slashed at the boy fast and tried to leave no openings for counter, but apparently the genin from Kumogakure was flat out quicker than he was. Goku ducked and then slid across the ground to sweep the man off of his feet. He jumped back up into the air and flipped, landing on the man's back with a large amount of force. The child grinned when he knocked the wind out of the man's chest, and heard a loud 'oof' sound.

The boy wasted no time stealing the man's whole equipment pouch, which was attached to the back pants. He found all kinds of 'goodies' in there, explosive tags, ninja wire, senbon, and anything else you could think of. Deciding to use the ninja wire to his advantage, he jumped off of the man's back and stood to wait for the attackers to make their move. They didn't notice Goku weilding the wire, and ran right in to try and kill him.

Goku danced around their attacks, slowly circling them, and weaving between the two. The attackers were confused when they saw the smile on the boy's face, "You know, you guys make this too easy!" Goku yelled as he jumped away and gave the wire within his grip a powerful pull. The two men yelled out as they slammed into one another and realized they had been trapped. Through the corner of his eye, he saw that K had finished off his enemies, "Yo, sens-"

The man already caught Goku's notion, dashing across the cave and cocking his arm back. K let his chakra flow accelerate in his arm, and it started to glow blue in color. With one last nature transformation, his arm looked like a spinning vortex of wind to Goku, " **Fuuton: Fu-Ken** (Fist of Wind)!" He thrust his arm forward and got a direct hit on the two Takigakure shinobi being held together by Goku's wire strings. Not only were they sent flying and smashing into the cave wall, but his wind coated fist had left deep cuts all over their body.

"Sensei, that was awesome!" Goku cheered while pumping his fist. "They didn't even know what hit 'em!"

"Now's not the time for celebration, Goku," K let his hands fall to his side, "We have to keep moving."

"Why did they attack us anyway?" Goku asked his sensei, while the man was now leading them out of the cave passage like before.

"Orders from their leader apparently," That question troubled him more than before. He was carrying a large amount of money within his parcel, and if this loan were to be successful; it would mean hell for the minor villages surrounding Iwagakure. Perhaps they didn't want this deal to go through? K mentally sighed, "Regardless, we keep moving toward Iwagakure."

Goku grinned cheekily, "I hope more of those guys show up, I want to kick their ass again."

"Don't be foolish, Goku."

. . .

(Konohagakure no Sato / Rooftop)

Three genin sat next to each other, all giving their new sensei a blank stare. One boy had blonde hair and odd whiskers on each side of his face, while the other had black hairs and onyx orbs to match, and the girl among them had long pink hair and large green eyes that were locked onto the jounin.

Kakashi Hatake smiled back at his otherwise unimpressed Genin, "Why don't we all introduce ourselves?" He looked at the blonde, "You can start us off, Naruto. State your name, interests, distastes, hobbies, and goals."

The boy scratched his head, "Okay, uh ... My name is Naruto Uzumaki: I like ramen, _Ichiraku Ramen_ to be exact, and I hate when ramen takes too long to warm up. My hobbies are pulling pranks and watering plants!" Kakashi looked slightly displeased with the boy's answers, "When I get older I want to become the Hokage so I can finally get the respect and attention from the villagers!"

The man was now impressed with Naruto, giving the boy an eye-smile, "Very good, Naruto. Sakura, how about you go next?"

The girl didn't let a word escape her lips, but said so much with a simple glance at the boy sitting next to her. She was in complete love with the brooding child and it was evident to Kakashi that everything she liked, disliked, and wanted in life sat right next to her.

"Ok.. How about you, Sasuke?"

"I only have one desire, and that's to kill a certain man," The boy said with his arms folded and his head hung low.

Kakashi was starting to have his doubts about his team, but wouldn't shy away from a challenge. He clapped his hands together and stood up, "Excellent, now that we've gotten to know each other a bit, I think we can jump right into the fun stuff."

"Fun stuff?" Naruto jumped up almost instantly, "Are you going to teach us how to set shit on fire, and jump through diemensions!?"

"I like your enthusiasm, Naruto, but no," Kakashi wagged his finger, "I will be giving the three of you a test to see if you're truly worthy of being called genin. Meet me at the training field in one hour." Before any further questions could be asked, the man disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Tch, another test?" Sasuke asked no one in particular, as he pushed himself up and made his leave.

"Yeah, we're gonna do great!" The girl exclaimed as she hurriedly followed behind the boy.

Naruto was left alone to his own devices. He jumped up and ran to the edge of the roof top, getting a nice view of the village where he stood. A smile crossed his face, "I should probably get some equipment and head to the training field," He reminded himself as he turned around to make his leave like the rest of his team.

"Halt," a voice appeared on the roof, and the boy stopped in his tracks. He had never been so startled in his life, but he calmed down. The man standing before him wore a cat ANBU mask with green and red markings on it, "Uzumaki Naruto, you have summoned to see the Hokage."

"Huh?" Naruto didn't remember getting in trouble recently, so he wondered what the Hokage wanted with him. He shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, I'll go see jiji after I take my test with Kakashi-sense-"

"You are to see him _right now_ ," The ANBU disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Shit.. I must really be in trouble."

. . .

(Tsuchi No Kuni / Cave)

The man took a the last drag of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground, and exhaling smoke calmly. What he had walked into slightly displeased him, "Wow, these fucks really got their asses handed to them," He took note of the bodies that were neatly piled on top of one another. "Shibuki's an idiot for sending for these grunts." He folded his arms over each other and kicked one of the lifeless bodies, "Any of guys worth anything still?"

There was no response.

"Fuck it," The man ran a hand through his spiky brown hair and let out a sigh. He had fair skin and strong facial features. There was a light amount of stubble on his face, and he wore a high collared white button down jacket with black pants. His forehead protector was worn around his arm, and it had the Takigakure insignia on it, "I'll avenge you shmucks, don't worry." He laughed to himself as he continued through the passage.

When he exited the passage and saw the other side, he was in a large town that was full of lights, markets, restaurants, and hotels. The man was supposed to be hunting down Kumogakure shinobi in this big city? He placed his hands on his hips, "I think I'm going to need another cigarette."

. . .

 _I've been vibing out to DS2 lately, I think that's why I'm getting shit done._ Next Chapter: _Serious Business_


	5. Serious Business

_Serious Business_

"So what'd you say your name was, handsome?" A woman with dirty blonde hair looked up at the Takigakure shinobi. The two had their arms locked as they strolled through the illuminated city built into the mountains. "Because you look way too good to be a battle tested shinobi."

"Ha, my name is Daisuke Moto," The Takigakure shinobi smiled at the woman. "I appreciate the compliment, honestly."

"Not that it's my place to ask, but what brings you to the big city of Tobaku?" She stroked his arm gently, "It's not everyday we get Takigakure shinobi rolling through here."

"I'm actually here on a mission, not just for leisure. I'm supposed to be hunting down two Kumogakure shinobi carrying around enough money that could change the dynamic of the world," He admitted smoothly. "I guess you could say it's serious business." The man looked down at the woman attached to his arm for a reaction.

"They must be heading to Iwagakure," The woman nearly spat on the ground once she said 'Iwagakure.' She shook her head, "This whole town is a shitty plan made by the Tsuchikage. It's full of bullshit casinos that cheat people out of their money. His goal was to sucker visiting shinobi out of their foreign money and put it toward the village, but it failed tremendously. The only person he manages to suck dry is Tsunade Senju whenever she passes through here."

Daisuke laughed at the woman's story as they continued their stroll through the busy town. He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, "I like you, ya know," He grinned at the woman. "You're smart, and I feel like you might be able to help me out. Do you know where I might be able to find a pair of Kumo-nin?"

She instantly pointed to the highest point in the town. It was a large hotel built into the highest peak in the town, "Different shinobi from different villages stay in certain places each time. Whatever reminds them of home," The woman used her free hand to cusp his face and guide it to where he needed to be looking. She now pointed at the sign on the hotel, "Take note of the obvious things, it's called the **Ran'un** (The Storm Cloud). Konoha ninja go wherever it feels like family, and I already know a Taki-nin like you would want to stay some where low-key."

He smiled at her quick observations, "You're quite the tactician."

"No, shinobi are just way more obvious than they think," The woman flicked him on the nose. "If you've been studying your prey as long as I have, you'd know."

Daisuke's eye brow was slowly rising, "Huh?" He had an eerie smile on his face after being identified as _prey_. The last thing a shinobi wanted to feel like he was in danger, when he was for the most part trying to stay cool. "Prey? You hunt shinobi or something?"

She shook her head before laughing at Daisuke. The woman rested her head against his chest as they walked, "I've observed them every day for the last ten years of my life," she admitted to him. It was a very exhausting task, "Casinos around here pay people like me to pay attention to their behavior and tendencies so they can suck them dry of every ryo they've got. So yes, you're prey in that aspect, but for the most part you'll be fine." She could tell her comment had made him paranoid before.

"Oh, I don't gamble, so I won't be having those problems," The man grinned cheekily at the thought.

"Yeah," a pleased sigh escaped her lips. "You're different, most shinobi are scum bags that only have money and blood on their mind." She looked up at him with a slight smile, "You're about your business, but I can tell you don't let it run your life. I like you too, _ya know_." She made fun of the man's quirk, playfully pinching him.

The Taki-nin broke away from her grasp, and stopped walking. He held his hands out and she grabbed them quickly, "We should keep in touch, ya know." Daisuke offered a light smile and a bit of laughter, "Can you bless me with your name again, I don't want it to slip my mind."

The woman quickly scribbled her info onto a sheet of paper she found in her pocket. She had just met the man but she had almost fallen for him, "My name is Moe," The town inhabitant handed over the sheet to the man. She brushed some hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear, "I'm staying not too far from here, you should come visit me soon. I might have something you like."

"Once I finish my mission, I'll be sure to stop by and check on you, Moe," Daisuke slipped the sheet into his pocket.

"Don't go and die on me either," The woman smiled at him and they shared a laugh. She walked up and kissed him on the cheek before walking off in the opposite direction.

Daisuke rubbed his cheek and grinned, he had gotten exactly what he wanted, and that was the info on how the city worked. He liked the girl too, but she was just a bonus. His eyes slowly trailed upward to 'The Storm Cloud,' and he mentally set that as his next target.

He dropped his facade of a polite, sweet talking gentleman, and returned to his normal self, "Don't blink motherfuckers, I'm right on your ass."

. . .

(Ran'un / Tobaku)

Goku hadn't been here for long, but he was having the time of his life. Shinobi life was _easy,_ despite what his sensei had said. He managed to slip away from the man for a minute while the man ate. Right now he was in the casino doubling the amount of money he had, since he apparently had a lucky hand, or at least that what he let them think.

He was naturally drawn to the craps table for an odd reason. Goku was the shortest, but as of right now, richest man inside the casino. The whole table was surrounded by older shinobi and bystanders witnessing one of the greatest runs in casino history. The boy smiled at the dealer from across the table, "Ok, let's go!" The bet was already set and now all he needed was the dice. The whole table had their eyes on him, and Goku was never one to shy away from attention.

Once the dice were handed to him, he crossed his fingers on his other hand and closed his eyes. A grin spread across his face as he gave the dice a nice shake before throwing them onto the table, and when he opened his eyes; he saw a lot of older men and women cheering. He had rolled a perfect seven, and before he knew it he was being lifted off the ground by a surprisingly strong woman in a bear hug. The boy's face reddened, "Please, put me down." He managed to choke out between breaths.

She dropped him immediately, still smiling, "You're making me rich, gaki!" The woman had a stack of ryo in her hand. Goku's mouth dropped when he saw how huge her breast were, and she noticed. The boy had never been thrown across such a far distance any faster in his life. She stomped across the casino, her two loose ponytails swinging angrily. The woman wore a green haori that 'gamble' written on the back of it. She cocked her arm back, ready to punch the life out of Goku, "I liked you, but you're a fucking idiot just like the rest of them!" Before she could go through with it, another woman grabbed her arm.

"Tsunade-sama, he's just a boy!" The woman pleaded, as she held a pig against her chest with her free arm. "And he made you all of that money, this is how you repay him?!"

Tsunade ripped her arm free and fanned herself with the newly acquired stack of money. She let herself get worked up by a little pervert, "Next time he does that he's a dead man walking." The woman turned to look at the still recovering Goku, "You got that, gaki!?"

"My name's Goku not gaki, old lady," He was lucky enough to flip out of the way of her next punch that ended up rupturing the very ground of the casino. Goku knew he would get a rise out of her, "You would think you would be nicer to the kid that pulled your ass out of that hole you were digging yourself into." At this point, it seemed like Goku just wanted to fight Tsunade, who came running at him again, but he skillfully dodged her punches.

She caught him off guard by adding a powerful kick to the mix, sending him flying across the casino floor once again, "I'm going to rip your soul out of your body you little bastard!"

Shizune couldn't even argue with her at this point, since Goku brought it upon himself. She mentally said goodbye to him, because she knew that he would actually die playing around with Tsunade.

Goku's body ached all over, and he clutched his chest where he had been kicked. She had effectively knocked the wind out, "How is she that strong?" He asked as he was close to slipping from consciousness, but he was willing himself to stay awake.

Before Tsunade could end his life, K finally made his appearance in the casino. He appeared with his signature shushin, right in front of Goku. The stoic man looked at Tsunade, "I'd appreciate if you didn't kill my student." His words didn't seem to mean much, she was still making her way to Goku punching her fist into her open palm. "He ...," K looked back the boy who was struggling to stay awake and came close to frowning, "Means _a lot_ to me." He nearly choked saying it, but he had to keep Goku alive.

"How much is the fucker really worth to you?" Tsunade asked when she was face to face with K. She was surprised, there wasn't an ounce of fear coming from him no matter how much killing intent she leaked. "Because he's truly an idiot."

"I'm aware of how foolish he is," K had noted the new sack of money Goku had acquired in less than an hour at the casino. "But I think his life is worth at least 13,000 Ryo, as long as you restore him to his previous health." The man knew she would kill his student, or permanently cripple him without any second thought, so he had to reason with her on grounds he knew she'd accept. He was pleased when she softened considerably and dropped her evil stare on Goku.

"Give me the damn money," Tsunade was surprised how quickly all 13,000 Ryo was in her hand. K was extremely serious in his offer, and she handed the money off to her partner, "Shizune, count this for me. Make sure these two Kumo-nin aren't trying to pull one on us. I've gotta bring this gaki back to life," She picked the now unconscious Goku off of the ground and threw him over her shoulder, "Follow me."

"I apologize for Goku's behavior," K had to be the bigger man since Goku wanted to be the obvious child. "He's new to this."

"It's okay, to a certain extent," Tsunade was used to people staring at her clevage at this point in her life, but for a kid it was a brand new low. "What the hell is this tail though? I've seen a couple kids wearing them, even an adult. Is it some new trend among ninja?"

"It must be," K lied, and pretended he wasn't utterly shocked. He knew she wasn't an idiot, but the longer she didn't know; the better. It was his village's secret, but it was getting harder to keep since apparently there were more just like Goku, and that worried him to no end. "I let him do what he wants."

"That much is obvious."

. . .

(Konohagakure no Sato / Hokage's Office)

Naruto cautiously entered the office, and was pleased to see the Hokage sitting there smoking his pipe. He had a smile on his face, which Naruto didn't fail to return, "Hey jiji, why'd you call me here?" He went and sat in front of him. "I've got a big test with Kakashi-sensei is less than an hour!"

Hiruzen laughed at the newly minted Genin, "I promise I won't take up all your time to prepare," The Hokage signaled for something with his hand, which left Naruto a little confused. "I just wanted to check on you, without you pulling any pranks lately; I haven't gotten to see you."

The boy was slightly confused, "I've been busy, I'm an important ninja now jiji!"

"That's why I wanted to give you a little gift," The Hokage admitted, and with a snap of his fingers two ANBU members appeared. They were holding a long box with the Senju crest on it. "I figured something like this would motivate you to do better."

Naruto had his eyes locked on the item since it appeared. He nearly salivated wondering what it was, "What's that?" The boy jumped out of his seat and went up to the box. He looked back at the Hokage, and he gave him a nod, which meant he could open it. The boy was expecting something shiny, new, and powerful, but was very disappointed when he lifted the lid off of the box.

It was a slightly rusted, definitely old, and withered katana within its sheath. He forced a smile onto his face while he turned to look at the Hokage, "Wow.. thanks jiji!" He grabbed the sword by its hilt and lifted it into the air, "Not what I was expecting, but its still cool!"

"That sword once belonged to Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage," He explained to the now eager Naruto. "He brought down many with that blade, and I'm proud to hand it down to such a promising young ninja."

The boy instantly unsheathed the blade and sliced it through the air. He hadn't realized how powerful it was, and was frozen solid when he saw a wide eyed Hiruzen staring at him. On his desk sat what once was his smoking pipe, sliced cleanly in half, and his mouth wide, "Oops," was all Naruto had to say at the moment. "I'm sorry, jiji."

' _Better than I thought he would be,_ ' The Hokage thought as he let a smile take over his face. A twelve year old boy had just caught him off guard, "Be careful, Naruto-kun. Remember that I gave you this sword in confidence, don't let me regret my decision." The boy wasted no time putting it back in the sheath, "Now get going, you have a big day ahead of you."

Naruto took off in a burst of speed, right through the Hokage's open window. He had a new energy to him, being even more hyper than he had been before. The Hokage's gift meant a lot to him, and the underlying goal of motivating him seemed to work, as he landed on a roof top not too far away.

He wanted to practice with his new weapon. The boy cautiously slid it out its container and got warmed up with a few slashes. He jumped into the air and slashed downward, diagonally, and then forward. Naruto couldn't help but smile as he tried to master his new weapon.

"I'm definitely going to be badass."

. . .

(Tobaku, with Daisuke)

Daisuke had arrived a little too late, he narrowly missed the two Kumo-nin he had been searching for, and apparently they had made a legendary friend. He took note of the almost completely destroyed casino floor, which had been courtesy of Tsunade Senju. The state of the casino brought Daisuke to smoking a cigarette as he examined the scene, "Bitch is crazy," he concluded lazily.

He looked around for any more clues, and he drew up none, so he went to talk to some people that may have been there. The first person, and probably his best option was the dealer at one of the craps tables, "Yo, old dude." The man was in the middle of the game, so he didn't turn around. Daisuke furrowed his brow and pushed one of the players out of the way, also taking their dice. "I'm talking to you," He pointed at the dealer. "I'm here on business, I think it's more important than a fucking game."

The Taki-nin looked around at the shinobi actively participating in the game and frowned, "Don't you fuckers have a job you're supposed to be doing, come on! Get the fuck out of here!" His killing intent flared, and it left him and the Craps Dealer alone like he wanted. "I've got a few questions that you might have the answers to."

The dealer tapped his chin and he smiled, "Hm, that might cost you." He was losing money wasting time talking to the shinobi, so he figured he'd make some kind of profit out of the situation. "This information is confidental to the storm cloud, so I think I set my price at 20,000 ryo."

Daisuke didn't really enjoy playing games with the dealer, so he tried to make his intentions clear once more. The man showed off his brute strength by picking up the whole craps table and throwing it against the wall, "God damn the fucking casino, I want to know what those fucking ninja who fought Tsunade Senju looked like _right now_!"

The casino employee nearly shit himself from Daisuke's tantrum, "Ok," He sighed since he was scared so easily. "The one who was winning all of the money couldn't have been more than a genin, he was short, had his hair tied, and wore all black. He wears all an black outfit, and oh .. shit, the kid has a tail." The menacing stare he was getting from prodded him to keep explaining. "The other one was much taller, he had his hair tied in a ponytail too, but it's much longer than the kid's. He too wore an all black outfit, with black gloves, and he pretty much stares at shit. He'll be wearing a flak jacket that stops above his stomach, if that helps."

"Can I get some names, where they were going? God, you fucking suck!" His killing intent spiked upward. He had never been so frustrated in his life.

"Uh, uh," The dealer was quickly trying to think. It wasn't really his job to pay attention to the gamblers once they left his table, "I think the boy's name was Goku, I don't know the older one. They left with Tsunade Senju, I don't know where they going."

"Hm, Goku," Daisuke smacked his lips and stormed off. With the advice he had gotten from Moe earlier in the day, he might be able to track down a group of Konoha affiliates and Kumogakure shinobi.

"Damn dude, he was such a dick," A younger casino walked up to the dealer and laugh. He froze in place when he saw said 'dick' turn his head ever so slightly to give a glare to him.

"Watch your mouth," Daisuke sent a shiver down both workers spines as he finally made his exit into the lobby. It was full of concerned guests, and he quietly weaved through the crowd and went back to the streets of Tobaku.

There was a group of men walking down the street having a good time, and Daisuke stopped the entire group, "You fellas look like you enjoy the night life, am I right?" He received a nod from each one of them. "Ok then, you can help a fellow man out then, right?" To which they nodded again. "Excellent, I like you guys already. I'm looking for this woman, she's probably the hottest thing in the universe right now save for the sun, have you seen her?"

"I don't know, maybe; we see plenty of hot chicks walking through Tobaku," Him and one of his buddies bumped fist, "Been through a few of 'em too. You know what she looks like?"

Daisuke held his hands at his chest and winked, "She's got blonde hair, brown eyes, and probably the hugest rack you've ever seen in your life." Any decent woman would nearly vomit at the conversation they were having, and some had the displeasure of hearing it in passing. "She might be rolling around with up to three others, but I'm mainly looking for her."

The unspoken leader of the group of friends playfully stroked his beard while he tried to think, "Blonde hair with a huge rack sounds like something me and my boys should be looking for instead, I wish I had seen her."

"She's as tough as nails, I doubt you'd want any part in that," Daisuke warned, "The last place she was seen was at the Ran'un about an hour ago shooting craps."

One of the men decided to speak up, "I think I know who you're talking about, I was kicking it at the casino not long ago, and I might have saw her. She's been in Tobaku for a few days losing money, I think she's from the Leaf." He pointed to his right, "If I'm right, I think she's staying at the **Kansōha** (Drying Leaf), if you move fast you might be able to catch her."

"Wow, the world needs more people like you guys," He grinned before saluting them. "I've gotta move, but you guys be easy and stay safe; I think Tobaku's gonna get a little crazy soon."

"Hey dude, I'd do anything to help a brother out," The man and Daisuke shook hands. "I hope you get that piece of ass you're chasing dude, good luck."

His grin almost turned evil at the thought, "Oh, I will."

. . .

(Kansōha, Tobaku)

Goku was sprawled out on the bed, still unconscious. Tsunade removed his shirt so she could begin healing the boy, and let a smile creep on her face when she saw a large bruise in the shape of her shoes was in the center of his chest. She still had the strength that everyone feared, even in old age, "The boy had it coming, I hope you know." She looked up to K.

"I know how Goku is," He simply responded. K sat across from the bed in the plush suite to ensure that Goku was healed properly. He could have done it himself, but having one of the best medical ninja ever do it was probably a better idea. K's idea of healing was a few bandages and nice walk to get the pain out of one's system. "He gets in over his head from time to time and is lucky enough to come out alive."

The womans hands were now coated in a light green aura, as she steadily moved around Goku's wound, "He'll be fine if he gets to rest, I only bruised him a bit, and there might be some internal bleeding, but it's not something I can't fix," She assured K, even though he seemed to not care what happened to Goku. "You're quite the passive man, I don't think I've heard you speak for longer than a few seconds."

"It's simply how I was raised," K didn't really want to share that much with Tsunade, since this was just a business transaction to him. He viewed his whole life as business, "I learned to state my point without rambling a long time ago."

Shizune returned into the room with a damp towel, which she placed over Goku's forehead. Tsunade had yet to explore the possibility that she had given the boy a concussion by smacking him around like that. While she worked, she started to notice little things about Goku, which she turned to K to get the answers to. The woman hugged Tonton against her chest, "K-sama, Goku has very large chakra reserves for someone his age, and this tail obviously isn't some accessory." Maybe they weren't just _little_ things she had noticed, "He's isn't a host of a tailed beast, is he?"

"Tailed beast, no," The man got up to look over Goku's healing with the duo of medics. "Natural talent... maybe," He noticed that the bruise was slowly starting to heal.

"Is this tail a product of a kekkei genkai that we don't know about?" Tsunade raised a brow, now wondering about Goku's heritage as well.

"Maybe so, I've never inquired about it," K continued to lie through his teeth, but he was quite good at it, so he'd continue to roll with it.

"But he's your student, why would you not want to know!?" Shizune looked between him and Goku. The boy seemed like he had a good heart, so to be paired with someone as souless as K was odd, "He's obviously not normal!"

"I agree with Shizune," Tsunade said as the green aura coating her hands came to a stop, and she stood to look at K, who was very suspect at the moment. "Goku isn't a normal child, and there's something you're not telling us about. I know you know, you're not a fucking idiot!"

Despite the situation going to shit, K stayed completely calm. He looked at Tsunade with a blank stare, "I appreciate the fact that you would heal my student, Goku, but I feel that you're over stepping your boundaries." His stare had gotten cold and it actually sent a chill down Tsunade's spine. "Your job is to heal the chest trauma that you caused and we go our separate ways. Whatever you discover through your healing, I cannot stop, but I'd rather you not try and pry information away from me."

The atmosphere of the room seemed colder, and the tension between Tsunade and K was deathly obvious. The man's cold presence seemed to overpower her though, and she bit her lip while looking at him. His onyx eyes were fixated on her amber orbs, and his eyes never drifted away from her gaze. His words were still up in the air, and for some reason Tsunade couldn't muster a good enough response.

A bead of sweat rolled down her head, and she was so mad she was shaking. This was the closest thing to a rise she had gotten out of K, and it hadn't gone her way. The woman had nothing to say, and no way to react to what he said. If she lashed out in anger, she would feel like she was in the wrong for the first time in her life, and that wasn't a good feeling for her. She formed a fist and slightly flared her intent to kill K, but it died once she met his cold stare once more and realized it did nothing.

Shizune was shaking with Tonton in her grasp. For the first time in years, a man had overpowered Tsunade with just words, and almost made her crumple in fear. Shizune herself was slightly scared of the man's apparent lack of emotion and fear, so she couldn't blame the woman. It was just rare for Tsunade to buckle under K's cold aura.

"You may continue," K turned his back on the Senju and returned to his seat. He didn't want to continue on with the woman because he felt like had said too much already.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" The woman finally managed to say something after a few minutes of scared silence. Tsunade's chest was heaving, a feeling of freedom returning to her once the atmosphere of the room was restored.

Shizune smiled when she saw the woman she was used to.

"As of right now, I'm your employer," K gestured to the sack of money sitting before him. "I'll gladly take the 13,000 Ryo we gave you back."

"Take the fucking money and the damn kid, I don't give a shit!" Tsunade was about the throw the money right in K's face, but Shizune shot her a concerned glance, and she knew every thing she had implied. The woman frowned as the thought of embarrassing K went to the back of her mind. She slowly put the money back in her haori. The woman mumbled, 'shit' under her breath as she looked down at the ground. She had never been so close to exploding in a long time.

"I knew you wouldn't do it," The kumogakure jounin would have smiled if it was in his nature. The man folded his arms, "Had it not been for Goku, you would be in debt. You _need_ that money." K was playing a dangerous game with Tsunade, but he wouldn't engage her if he didn't know he could win, and victory was practically sitting in his lap.

Shizune saw the pained expression on Tsunade's face, and she turned to K, "Just stop it!" She had to defend the woman that looked after her, even if it seemed like their roles were reversed a long time ago. "Please, just stop." K was driving her to madness, and it almost made Shizune tear up. She couldn't stand to see it.

"When the healing continues," K was pleased when he saw her hands glow in green aura. That's all he wanted, and he could think easily knowing Goku was close to recovery. He didn't like being interrogated either.

The three adults sat in silence while Tsunade healed the genin from the powerful kick that knocked him unconscious. She resented the 'Limitless K,' and wanted to see him dead, but he was paying her.

K may have won the battle, but she'd been damned if he won the war. Tsunade Senju didn't go down that easy.

. . .

(Outside of Kansōha)

Daisuke placed his hands on his hips, as his few hours of stalking led him to this final point. He wasn't one hundred percent sure his 'friends' were correct, but it was better than anything he had. The man continued to ask around, and he got about the same answers, so he now stood before the famed Kansōha hotel and casino.

He walked into the hotel and was amazed by the amount of luxury within it. The floor was decorated with marble tile, and golden statues of important figures from Tsuchi No Kuni stood tall and proud. He was greeted by two women who were barely dressed, they obviously worked for the casino, "Whoa, ladies calm down."

One of them kissed him on his cheek, leaving her red lipstick stain there for everyone to see, "Why don't you stay a while, handsome?" She lightly tugged on his arm so she could guide to the casino floor, but he had a stronger will than that.

"I'm sorry baby, but I'm here to handle serious business," Daisuke broke free of the women and they frowned. He was kind of enough to blow a kiss to the duo, "Until next time, ladies."

The two vixens walked away into the casino, and he made his way to the front desk in the lobby. He shook his head as he walked up, "Your employees are a little abrasive, ya know?"

The man with glasses sitting behind the desk nodded slowly, "I hear that a lot." He pulled out a clipboard and stared blankly at Daisuke, "How may I help you, sir?"

"I'm here to see my girlfriend Tsunade Senju," He informed the man as he leaned over the desk. "I was supposed to be out in the field, but I wanted to surprise her on my way to Iwagakure, so could you tell me her room number."

The man looked Daisuke over with a little bit of doubt. Daisuke came in expecting him to believe that a Takigakure shinobi, who looked not a day over twenty years old was dating a woman in her mid fifties? The man nearly laughed, "A kid like you really thinks I'd believe you're dating _Tsunade Senju_."

"Yeah, that does sound crazy," Daisuke laughed at the man. "How about, tell me where Tsunade's room is before I fucking kill you! How does that sound?" The man behind the counter's leg were shaking. "My beef isn't with her, it's the two kumo-nin in her group. They're trying to start a fucking war, dude! Do you know how terrible that would be for you?"

"Uh, no."

"THIS WHOLE TOWN WILL GET BLOWN TO SHIT BY MY HANDS," His killing intent spiked to insane levels, and his face was right in the clerk's. "Now give me the room number, or I'll tear through this piece of shit hotel looking for her myself!" A room key was shoved in his face quicker than ever.

He was satisfied to say the least, all he wanted was a general number, or even a floor, and he had gotten the key to just walk into her room. His job was starting to get easier and easier as the days went by.

"She's staying in room 777, on the seventh floor," Daisuke rolled his eyes. He turned the back of the key and read it, "Lucky suite... this place is so fucking corny it hurts."

He took to the stairs to reach the seventh floor, as he quietly planned out his next course of actions. Daisuke thought about taking the boy and his sensei down in one fell swoop, but that would end up with Tsunade and one other on his bad side, and he didn't need Konoha getting involved in his affairs.

Daisuke scratched his stubble idly thinking about what to do next, "I should probably feel them out first, and then take them down one by one." He palmed his hand against his head, "That's easier said than done though." The man opened the door that led to the seventh floor.

"Tch, I'll just wing it, and see where that goes."

"Talking to yourself now?" Daisuke turned around quickly to see a familiar face. She brushed her blonde hairs out of her face and smiled, "Fancy meeting you here. I'm surprised you're not dead yet, big boy."

He walked up to her and put his arms around her, "I'm about to walk into my next suicide mission right now." He said jokingly. Moe tried planting a kiss on him to make him stop talking, but his mouth was already moving a mile a minute, "You should probably get out of here, because I don't believe in 'light work,' ya know?"

"Who are you here to see?" She wondered, since the seventh floor was exclusive to high rollers, and high profile acts.

"Tsunade," He saw her mouth the name, about to yell it out loud, so he did as she had earlier and locked lips with her to keep silent. Daisuke broke away from the kiss, "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you're going to get me killed." He pointed at the door way, "Now get out of here, lest you be blown away with this shitty place."

Moe was reluctant, but she frowned, "Okay, but if you die; I'll be heated," The woman turned to walk away, but remembered something. She pointed at him and made her first real threat towards him, "If you mess up my cash flow and kill Tsunade Senju, you're a dead man." He nodded and that was enough to get her to walk off officially.

Daisuke was sweating bullets now, that sudden interaction made him nervous, since he completely forgot she worked for the casinos. It should have been no surprise to see her, "Ok, calm down." He ran a hand through his spiky hair and took a deep breath, before turning around and continuing on as he had been.

He straightened out the key in his hand as he approached the room. This was the moment he had been waiting for since he arrived in Tobaku, "Alright," He took another deep breath for safe measure. The man was smart enough to remove his Takigakure head band from around his arm and toss it somewhere, before inserting the key into the door.

The Taki-nin felt three auras ready to end his life fixate on him as he readied to open the door. He didn't let it get to him, as he walked in; he politely waved at the trio of conscious adults, "Housekeeping!"

K was the first of the three to stand up and look Daisuke up and down, and then he turned to look at Tsunade for a moment. All he did was raise his eyebrow, and she nodded in response. Daisuke was made uncomfortable by the wordless conversation, but was happy to see Goku was unconscious, and therefore not able to battle.

"Bullshit," Tsunade spat out while she was still healing Goku.

"You're right, this is poorly planned bullshit, and I can't agree more," Daisuke got into position, "But my mission has nothing to do with you, Tsunade Senju, just the Kumo-nin. Hand your selves over, or I'll blast this room into next week." He formed a triangle with his hands and aimed it at the roof.

The legendary ninja knew she couldn't afford any damages done to the suite, so she drew a kunai and put it to Goku's throat, while still healing him. It was confusing to Daisuke, but she knew what she was doing, "K, get the fuck out of this room right now, or your genin gets it. I want no part of this."

His attention was never broken from Daisuke, who was standing in the door way. "Do you promise to keep Goku safe?" The man also got into position, seemingly ready to fight Daisuke if need be.

"Yes, I'll keep him safe, only if you leave, and take your new friend with you," Tsunade was serious about ending Goku's life, and K could feel it. She had finally one-upped him in their little game, and it was a satisfying feeling.

"Very well then, I'll leave."

. . .

 _I had a lot of fun writing this one, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did._ Next Chapter: _Every Ninja Is A Star_


	6. Every Ninja Is A Star

_Every Ninja Is A Star_

"Very well then, I'll leave," K remained as stoic as ever. He and Daisuke were currently in a standoff, and the moment Daisuke's intentions to kill him were clear; his power level went through the roof. Everyone in the room was surprised, except for him. His body was suddenly engulfed in a crimson aura, and his natural energy became visible to the human eye. " **Kaio-ken** (World King Fist) ," The man leapt off of his right foot in a blur of speed.

Daisuke's eye went wide, and he had zero time to brace himself for what happened next. The man charging at him at blinding speeds ducked low and tackled him through multiple walls with ease. They crashed through the glass and Daisuke noticed they were now outside. He couldn't do anything to resist K's new found strength, and the man adjusted his hold on Daisuke with relative ease.

They were free falling toward the ground, which was coming quite fast. K started spinning his body along with Daisuke's and they were beginning to be encased in wind, " **Futon: Eijiki** (Wind Release: Prey)," K released Daisuke from his grip with a powerful throw and sent him flying through another roof that was closer to the ground. The man released wind chakra from his tenketsu to slow his landing, and he dropped down on same roof he had put a brand new hole in.

He didn't really enjoy pointless violence, but apparently this mission called for it. K furrowed his brow as he felt the foundation of the building itself starting to shake. " **Katon: Zenhari** (Fire Release: Full Beam)," was heard being shouted from the building, and he didn't want to stick around to see what happened next. A beam of shining light tore through the hole, and K matched it's quickness with his own.

He watched the result from another building over, the core of the blast exploded outward like a firework and illuminated the skies. K was glad he didn't get with that, and got into position as he saw Daisuke appear on the rooftop across from his; seeing if he had killed K. His head snapped quickly in K's direction and he was already flying through hand seals.

" **Katon: Senhari** (Fire Release: 1000 Beams)," His hands were forming a triangle. The triangle filled with chakra and it was bright enough to light up the area. Daisuke blew into the triangle and small beams started flying at K like bullets, "You're not getting away with that damn money, fucker!"

K was now jumping from rooftop to rooftop to avoid being hit by whatever Daisuke sent at him, but no matter wherever he went; they followed him. "That's interesting," He mumbled to himself before he switched directions quickly, sacrificing some momentum for his action. His eyes were set on Daisuke, who was trying to move away from K, and the 1000 beams that followed behind him. "He can't control them that well, I see."

Daisuke grit his teeth, as he pivot his foot, and turned to face what was heading for him. He moved his hands from the center of his body and fully extended his wingspan, so the beams would split and go crashing into some random buildings, and not him. He was trying to be mindful of the people in the city, but he had a mission to complete, and he wouldn't let anything stand between him. The man got his feet set, and braced himself for the powerful punch that was inevitable from K.

The man put as much force as he could muster this punch, and it sent Daisuke flying off of the roof. The Takigakure shinobi smashed into the wall of one of the hotels. K was breathing heavily as the red aura surrounding him fell. He didn't panic, since he was powerful in his own right. The man used his chakra to let his voice boom loud enough for Daisuke to hear, "You want my money, boy?"

The 'boy' was in immense pain from the _Kaio-ken_ enhanced punch. His body fell from the crater made from the hit, but he regained his composure quick enough to grab onto the ledge of a roof. Daisuke crawled onto the rooftop and finally brought himself to a stand. In between his heavy breaths, he spoke, "You could say that." He pointed to where his head band used to be, "I'm from Takigakure, and if this deal goes through; we're fucked to put it simply. We might have a few strong jounin, but we're no where near ready to fight Iwagakure in war."

K walked closer to the ledge of the roof he stood on, "I'm aware, but similar to you; I'm doing this for my village's best interest." He lifted his right hand and showed his palm to Daisuke. The taki-nin was shocked to see the Kumogakure insignia tattooed on the man's palm, "Only the strong shall survive, and should you live to see the new world we hope to create; I'm sure you would enjoy it."

"You sound like the fucking villain!" Daisuke screamed out, "I thought you big village guys were good at heart!"

"That's such a childish notion to believe in," K shook his head as he let his hand fall to his side. "Everyone's cause is evil to someone."

"Fuck that," Daisuke threw his hands to the side and groaned. K was an infuriating man, "You should know what's right and wrong."

"Wrong, for every action there's a reaction," He didn't hesitate to correct Daisuke. "You're thinking about the lives of people in your village, but what about others?" Watching Daisuke's face twist in confusion made K uncharacteristically grin. It was battle, so he could get away with it. "Without this money, children will starve; people will die in more than just Iwagakure, and it seems like you can't worry about anyone but your little village. How selfish," K didn't really want to kill Daisuke, so he had no problem beating his ideals in the ninja's head.

Daisuke's hand slowly aimed at K, "Fuck you!" More of the miniature beams shot from his hand and tried to turn K into bits that civilians would have to clean up.

. . .

(Kansoha)

Shizune and Tonton eyes followed back and forth as the two shinobi duked it out. She frowned each time it stopped, "Tsunade-sama, K is very strong." The woman turned to look at the medic, who was close to being done with Goku. "Did you see what he did before he threw him and that guy out of the building?"

Tsunade tried to act like she wasn't impressed since she had a strong dislike for K, "It's just a chakra buff, it couldn't have lasted for more than a minute." She looked at Shizune, who was watching the fight, and the woman nodded to only prove her point. "Techniques like that are reckless and have a huge drawback in most cases." She had finished healing Goku, so she just sat at his bedside to make sure he was going through the natural part of his recovery.

"He was certainly man handling that shinobi though... I don't think he's something we should take lightly, even the boy," Shizune warned, gesturing to Goku. "This boy couldn't have graduated that long ago, and he's already being sent on missions to Iwagakure. Something about these two is weird." The woman holding the pig walked over and looked at the now sleeping Goku.

"I know what you're saying," She looked over at the sleeping boy and furrowed her brow. "If I had all my equipment, I would have ran a few tests on him." Tsunade balled up her fist, "Why can't I just live a normal fucking life!?" She yelled out, and startled Shizune, as well as her pet pig Tonton.

Her traveling partner didn't know how to respond and tried to offer Tsunade a smile. "Things will get better, Tsunade-sama, don't worry." She sat on the bed next to Goku and continued to examine him. "He's going to be waking up soon."

"I know," The woman crossed her legs and sighed. She would be happy when he was out of her sight and mind. Tsunade had only known him for a better part of two hours, and he was already stressing her out on high levels. She turned her head slightly and watched the boy's leg twitch, and his tail starting to swing as he returned to consciousness. "Welcome back, gaki."

The boy happily sat up and outstretched his arms. He let out a loud yawn, "Wow, that was a good nap!" He looked at Tsunade and grinned. At first she was glaring at him, but it softened considerably when he smiled at her. The boy was touching at his chest, "Wait a minute," He looked around the room he was in, and how luxurious it was. "DID YOU ACTUALLY KILL ME? AM I IN HEAVEN?"

Tsunade let out a soft laugh and shook her head, "No, kid, you passed out after I kicked you in your bird chest." After hanging around a soul as emotionally dead as K, Goku's fresh take on life made her some what happy. Whatever beef she had with his sensei, she wouldn't take out on him. "I'm honestly surprised you're still alive, he looked dead, didn't he Shizune?"

She nodded, "We tried smacking you with water, pinching your arm, and we even pulled on your tail, but you were knocked out." Shizune played along with Tsunade as they enjoyed messing with the boy. He wore a puzzled expression on his face, and he frowned. "All that matters is that you're back here and not in hell."

Goku placed his hands over his mouth and gasped, "You really think I'd get sent to hell?" His eyes widened at the thought, and he stood on the bed frozen. The alien broke out of it quickly, "Speaking of hell.. Where the hell is my shirt?"

The blonde threw his black long sleeve right in his face, and he caught it, "Get dressed and get the fuck out of my bed, gaki, I want to get some sleep."

The boy stuck his head through the shirt and looked around the room, "Where's K-sensei?" Both women pointed to the window and he ran to the edge of the room. His jaw dropped when he could see his sensei engaging another ninja in battle, their respective techniques lighting up the night sky. He turned to look at the duo of medics, "When the hell did he leave me?"

"He left to protect you, idiot!" Tsunade walked up to and smacked him upside his head.

"I've gotta go help!" Goku was about to launch himself through the window and Tsunade grabbed him by his tail. His face cringed from pain, "Let go, granny!"

"You're not going to fight that battle, I was told to keep you safe, so sit your ass down," Tsunade still had his tail in a tight grip. "If you want to go out there and die in the crossfire, you're crazy."

"Just let go of my tail, OLD LADY!" Goku's tail was released, and he was happy when he didn't get hit for calling her an old lady. He turned to see her fuming though, and her arms folded over her chest.

"Does it hurt when she grabs your tail, Goku?" Shizune asked as she too walked to to join the conversation.

"OF COURSE," Goku lightly grabbed his own tail and let it sit in his hand, "This thing is very sensitive."

"Why do you have a tail in the first place?" Tsunade took her chance to question the boy, while K was away.

"Eh, I don't know," Goku let it fall to his back side once more, and it swung happily. He placed his hands behind his head, "It's been here for as long as I could remember."

"Does your family have tails like you?" Tsunade crouched down to look Goku over one last time. The only odd thing about him was the tail, and it made her frown.

"Um, I think I was adopted. My grandpa told me he found me in the mountains traveling one day, and I already had the tail. He said something about kekkai genkai, but it hasn't given me any cool abilities yet, so I don't know." The boy shrugged as he looked toward the window, "Now can I leave!?"

Tsunade looked at Shizune and mouthed, 'This kid has no fucking clue.' She turned back to smile at Goku, "Yeah, get the hell out of here, gaki, and never come back."

Goku cheered and took off through the front door this time.

Once Goku was out of earshot, Tsunade instantly started packing her bags. Shizune hurriedly followed behind the woman's every movement. She even grabbed some of her loose clothing laying around to begin her packing as well, "Tsunade-sama, why are we leaving so suddenly?"

"We need to find Jiraiya."

. . .

(The Streets Of Tobaku)

The little girl held her mom's hand tightly. The skies of Tobaku were illuminated by fire and lightning more than the man made lights ever could. Her heart was racing, she was nervous, but caught up in the natural beauty of battle between two powerful shinobi. It confused her, "Mommy, what's going on?" She looked up to the woman for answers.

Her mother was one of the many citizens holding their child tight against their side. It had been a while since the somewhat neutral grounds of Tobaku were turned into a battle field, but it was nothing she wasn't used to. For her daughter, it was her first time seeing it, "Two shinobi are going at it, honey." She explained as she smiled lightly, "It's pretty isn't it, the image made from the passion of battle."

The girl didn't quite understand. Maybe her mom was caught up in it as well and got lost in her words, "It is pretty, mommy, but why are they fighting?"

"For the cause they believe in," This mother was incredibly deep. She looked down on her daughter, "Do you remember the stories of the Sage of Six Path, how he created the way of shinobi, and how he created the moon and the stars?" The girl nodded her head. "The stars represent each shinobi in the world fighting, every ninja is a star."

The little girl was too young to call bullshit on her mom's story, but it amazed her for now, as the city continued to watch the two ninja battle it out. They were bouncing from rooftop to rooftop, and lighting up the skies.

They were so caught up in the 'beauty' that they hadn't realized one of the 'stars' was about to come crashing to the ground. The woman grabbed her daughter off of the ground and started running in the opposite direction.

The figure was sent flying down from a powerful attack, and he crashed against the ground. He slid for a few meters before coming to a pained stop. The man sat up and furrowed his brow, pushing his immediate pain to the side, so he could live to see another day, "I'm going to kill you motherfucker!"

K dropped down to the ground with a great amount of force, a crater being formed from the impact. He was flying through hand seals, as he took a deep breath. When he released it, a powerful gust of wind tore through the street and sent anyone caught within it flying. " **Fūton: Daitoppa** (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" K tried to keep the casualties to a minimum, but the civilians were silly enough to stand around. He figured he was just playing his part in natural selection.

Daisuke grit his teeth, as his head was being thrown back, and he tried to will himself to keep moving forward. The man was pushed back and violently thrown on to the Earth's floor with a 'thud.' He tried to regain his composure quickly, and dig his hands into the ground, also sticking his feet to the ground with his chakra. He'd be damned if he were blown away in K's wind storm, and he was struggling to stay put, "I fucking hate you!"

The taki-nin's body were smeared with dirt, blood, and excess debris from being thrown through roofs, or smashed into the walls of hotels. His signature white jacket was completely ruined in the process, "Do you know how much I paid for this!" He barely managed to choke out against the still roaring wind. He knew that K wouldn't stop trying to blow him away, so he had to stop the wind himself.

He quickly ripped the hand that was keeping his rooted from the ground, and extended it outward against the powerful wind, " **Katon: Senhari** (Fire Release: 1000 Beams)!" Daisuke was running off of pure willpower at this point, as hundreds of bullet-like blasts of fire flew from his hand and smacked against the impact from the wind-release technique. He grinned when he saw K's expression change ever so slightly.

The man realized what was about to happen, and stopped trying to blow Daisuke away. He thought the boy would give up, but he was persistent, and fought against his never ending blast of wind, "You must really be an idiot." He watched as the two jutsu tried to overpower each other, but inevitably led to them both exploding outward and creating a full scale firestorm. K furrowed his brow, being fast enough to get to safety on another rooftop and continued jumping. He tried to put as much distance between him and the storm as possible, "That whole block is going to go up in flames."

K's prediction was more than correct, as the buildings in the surrounding area caught fire instantly. He skid to a stop to watch from afar as the block completely on fire, "He killed himself?" His head snapped in the opposite direction, as Daisuke made his appearance, and was already flying through hand seals. K tried to back pedal so he wouldn't be hit at point blank range, but before he could react; he was blasted by... ash?

Daisuke landed on the roof and continued trying to blast the Jounin with his ash, and was still satisfied if the substance just floated in the air like a cloud. He stopped releasing the ash from his mouth once he saw just how covered the area was, "That's **Katon: Haisekishō** (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning), a smokers favorite technique. I picked that up in Hi no Kuni, you're gonna love it." Daisuke joked with K.

"You act with such reckless abandon," K couldn't even see Daisuke. The whole area was covered in ash, and he was unfortunate enough to be stuck in the nucleus. He knew of the technique, and he didn't plan on sticking around to see the end result. "Is your mission really this important to you?"

"I'll burn this whole town down if it means you're dead," Daisuke couldn't fight back his childish grin. It seemed like he had K cornered, since the man had an apparent concern for the city. "I don't think the Tsuchikage will be pleased to hear you destroyed his little casino city."

"I'll tell him I was protecting his village in the process," K responded quite quickly, and it made Daisuke angry. He didn't care about the citizens as much as Daisuke thought he did, "There's no creation without destruction anyway."

"WELL TAKE THIS, JACKASS!"

. . .

(Streets of Tobaku)

Tobaku was bigger than he originally thought, but Goku was hot on the battle's trail. There was a whole block up in flames, and it was starting to lead him to where he needed to be. Other marks of their battle were scattered around the city as well, but he followed the obvious. He could feel the two massive amounts of power in a stalemate, and he was ready to jump in and help his sensei if need be.

The boy was running through the street with a kunai in his grip, "I'M COMING K-SENSEI, DON'T WORRY!" He quickly dropped to the ground and face planted into the dirt. "What th-"

A woman was stepping on his tail, "Don't be an idiot, kid."

"What do you mean? My sensei's fighting in there!" Goku squirmed free from the woman's foot and jumped up to defend himself. "You're one of the enemy's flunkies aren't you, well take thi-" The woman flicked Goku on the forehead and he stopped trying to attack her.

"No, I live here, but I see this a lot," The woman explained to the boy. "My name is Moe, by the way."

"I'm Goku," The boy pointed at himself and smiled. "I really do have to save my sensei's ass though, ya know?"

Moe laughed lightly, "You're from Kumogakure aren't you?" She looked at the band wrapped around his arm. "It's obvious, but somebody's out to get you guys right now, and he's gonna blow this whole place to smithereens. It would probably be best if you evacuated with everyone else."

"Huh?" Goku didn't even _understand_ the word evacuate. It wasn't in his blood to run from a fight, "The worst thing I could possibly do is leave my sensei to die. I would feel like less of a man if I did that."

"You're far from a man, really you're just a fucking baby," Moe frowned at Goku. She hated kids that tried to involve themselves with adults, "You don't need to go and die over some bullshit ideals."

The 'baby' had frustration written all over his face. He didn't want to be rude to Moe, but she was severely slowing him down, and from what he could see; he had a place to be. It didn't help that she was insulting his manhood either, "If I wasn't ready to die, I wouldn't have become a shinobi!" He beat his fist against his chest like an ape, "I knew what this life had in store for me!"

Moe furrowed her brow and kneeled down to look at Goku on his level, "You're an idiot, you know that?" She smacked his cheek lightly, "But if you want to die, go right ahead."

Goku wanted to hit her with a witty response, but he was at a loss for words. He grit his teeth, "I will." She laughed, and he smacked his palm against head. Their little moment was funny and enjoyable, but both of them tensed up for different reasons when an explosion rocked the whole city.

The boy tried to feel out the area for their chakra signatures, and only one returned to him. Had K just been killed? He shook his head, "No, no way." It felt like time had frozen for Goku, as the feeling of uncertainty washed over him.

Moe was worrying about the other party involved. Had Daisuke broken her promise and died? She also shook her head, not believing the thought, but it had been entirely possible. An explosion that big didn't go without casualties. Someone's life energy had been completely wiped off the earth, and she was hoping it wasn't her new found love.

She stared off in the distance, and Goku took off running.

What the hell just happened?

. . .

Next Chapter: _K's Prayer_


	7. K's Prayer

_K's Prayer_

" _WELL TAKE THIS, JACKASS,"_ The ash cloud littering the skies of Tobaku had only gotten thicker since its conception. What Daisuke had planned was the closest thing to suicide he had ever done, and he was quite proud. He grinned as he held his hand out and it glowed, " **Katon: Senhari** (Fire Release: 1000 Beams)." The beams were leaving his hand in rapid succession, as once again, the night sky flared.

K danced around the rooftop trying to dodge the beams, and avoid being hit directly. The man knew the massive amount of ash on his shirt would cause a problem, so he ripped it off and tossed it aside. He grit his teeth when a string of explosions started going off all around him. Daisuke's Senhari had powerful explosive capabilities already, but paired with the chakra infused gunpowder it was close to impossible to avoid. He tried to keep his footing, but the powerful chain of explosions knocked him back and forth around the roof.

For the first time in their fight, Daisuke had the upper hand, and he was actually inflicting damage on K. The man's clothes were torn to shreds, debris from the now destroyed roof flew everywhere and slashed his exposed skin. He could barely breathe due to the thick cloud of ash, lest he wanted his insides to explode as well, and slowly felt his life slipping away with each explosion. One more beam flew through the cloud and hit K directly in his right bicep and sent him flying out of the cloud and crashing into another roof.

There was a newly formed hole on his chest, and his blood was everywhere on the rooftop. The man was sprawled out on the ground, staring into the sky. His breaths were sporadic, and at this point; he was surprised to be alive. K's heart rate was slowing down with each breath he took. The jounin knew he only had one chance to end this battle, _and_ make it out alive. He wasn't about to pull his trump card just yet, because that would mean he was out of options.

His chest was heaving, as he gradually brought his hands up to form a tiger seal. The man coughed up blood and couldn't even bring himself to say the name of the technique. He was out of energy and his hands fell back down to his side, "No." He mumbled to himself as he was still staring at the sky, very close to bleeding out. "Please let me power through this, I can't die like this."

' _Of course you won't die, K,'_ a voice sounded off in his head. ' _Don't let these circumstances cloud your thought process!'_

K's eyes widened at the entrance of this voice, ' _I haven't heard from you in a while._ 'His body was slowly starting to fill with the adrenaline he needed. He brought his hands up once more to form the tiger seal he originally wanted to. ' _How long will I have with the life force I have left?'_

' _At the most, thirty seconds,'_ The voice was light to a certain degree, but was definitely a male. ' _Don't push yourself, or you'll end up dying._ ' He chuckled, ' _Then again, do you what you want, because I wouldn't mind having you back here with me._ '

The black haired shinobi shook his head, ' _My time hasn't come, yet, but thank you._ ' K cut off the mental connection between him and the voice. Everything went black for a moment, he couldn't see, hear, or feel anything around him.

Daisuke emerged from the slowly dispersing cloud of ash with a pained smile on his face. Apparently he wasn't fairing too well either, as he had blood and sweat caked up on his face, and his clothes were in tatters. Through all that, he still managed to smile, despite aching all over, and wanting to fall over and go unconscious, "I think I got the bastard." He looked down from the roof he stood on and saw K lying there lifelessly. Daisuke didn't feel _anything_ from K.

Did he actually kill him?

His hands were still in the seal formation, K had gathered natural energy and absorbed it. Much like earlier in the fight, a crimson aura flickered around his body, before it fully came to life and engulfed the injured shinobi. K let himself smirk, " **Kaio-ken x3** (World King Fist)."

"YOU WERE DEAD!" Daisuke screamed out as he pointed at K in disbelief, "I could feel it, you were dead! Just what the hell are you!?"

His adrenaline and strength enhancements were enough for him to push his battered body off of the ground, and finally come to stand after looking at the sky for a few minutes. He took a deep breath and planned out his next few actions. K had no time to waste talking to the the taki-nin. Daisuke was severely weakened from their fight, so he probably couldn't take much more.

K pushed himself off of the roof with his left foot and closed the distance between him and Daisuke in an instant. His arm was already cocked back, and coated in wind chakra from his hand to his shoulder. The wind was shaped like a sharp tendril that was constantly rotating, " **Futon:** **Saishūken** (Wind Release: Final Fist)," He stabbed it forward, and ripped through Daisuke's stomach with relative ease.

The man on the receiving end of the fist instantly spat out blood, that ended up in K's face, but he didn't fail to finish the job. K was much faster than he had been when he used the buffer earlier, and it caught Daisuke completely off guard. He grit his teeth as K forcefully ripped his fist outward and took some of his innards with him.

Daisuke stumbled backward and fell onto the ground, as he was now in K's earlier predicament, except this time would end differently. The man stepped up to Daisuke and looked down on him, and the younger shinobi spat more blood into the man's face. He would die with his pride at least, "You were dead… I was positive you were dead, there was no way you lived through that. I barely did!"

"Everyone's allowed to cheat death once in their life," The man was still glowing in a crimson aura. He stepped forward and placed his foot onto Daisuke's throat, "At first I questioned whether or not I would end yours." K furrowed his brow when Daisuke grabbed onto his ankles with the little power he had left, but he simply responded by pressing his foot down harder. The taki-nin choked on his own blood immediately, "But I decided I didn't like you because you talked too much."

All of Daisuke's power left his body, as he hands fell limply to the ground. K ended any chance of him having last words, and made him be silent for the first time in his life. It almost made the man smile, but he had more serious things to worry about, such as his own life.

He could feel time running out, and the power of his kaio-ken starting to weaken. He had already pushed himself past his limit, and the technique was the only thing willing his body to stay alive at this point.

The man's senses were extremely heightened in this state, and he could feel another presence touch down on the rooftop instantly. He turned and was pleased to see it was his student, and not enemy shinobi, "Goku, where is Tsunade?"

The boy's jaw dropped when he saw his battle damaged sensei. The man was shirtless and very scarred, glowing in a crimson aura. To Goku, he hadn't seen anything more badass in his entire life. He was so caught up in the man's appearance, he didn't even hear what his sensei said to him, "Wha?"

"Don't be foolish, Goku," His expression twisted in pain once he felt the Kaio-ken slowly coming to a close. "Tell me where she is RIGHT NOW!" His voice boomed and echoed through the whole city, and his cold onyx eyes were staring a hole through Goku.

Goku couldn't believe anything that was going on right now, he truly had to have died and went to a different universe. K was _injured_ and _raising his voice_. He was practically shaking in fear once the man had gotten angry with him, "I-I-I don't know!"

K had to take matters into his own hands, using his heightened senses, and natural energy to feel out the area, so he could quickly pinpoint Tsunade Senju. He was almost panicking, "Goku, I must go. I have to find Tsunade." He disappeared in his infamous crackle of electricity and left Goku alone.

Goku was more than confused, "What the hell is going on?"

. . .

(Streets of Tobaku)

Tsunade and Shizune were running at high speeds through Tobaku, trying to get as far away as possible. The middle aged shinobi felt like the two kumo-nin she had come across were nothing but trouble, and she wanted no parts of their business. The 13,000 ryo she had made was quite helpful though, and she would probably struggle to admit that out loud.

Shizune held Tsunade's pig close to her chest, "Don't you think it's wrong to just abandon them like this, Tsunade-sama?"

"No, you heard what the man said," The moment of Daisuke entering her room replayed thousands of times in her head over the last few minutes. K showing off his technique is what stuck out in her brain so much, "His gripe is with the two bastards from Kumogakure. We have nothing to do with this, and we shouldn't involve ourselves in it."

Her partner frowned and Tonton did the same, "They could be in serious trouble right now, and our four against his one would have helped a great deal."

"Shizune, _shut up_ ," Tsunade didn't like getting aggresive with Shizune, because of what she meant to her, but sometimes the woman crossed the line. The Senju made it clear she didn't want to help, and had zero intentions of doing so, yet Shizune constantly tried to make her feel bad about her decision. "I want nothing to do with K or his damn mission."

Shizune froze in her tracks when she felt something or _someone_ honing in on their location, "Tsunade look ou-"

In a crackle of electricity, a man appeared and stumbled forward into Tsunade's grasp. The legendary medic was also frozen solid with wide eyes. The man currently in her embrace was covered in blood, "Y-yo-you again?" She was staring right at the same man she was cursing at not too long, claiming she wanted to no parts in his affairs. However, her hemophobia was getting the best of her right now.

"Whatever the price, please; just help me," The man pleaded, as the crimson aura was flickering on and off. "Without your help, I will surely die."

This is what she wanted, wasn't it? K came crawling back to her, nearly begging her for help. Without it he would die in the condition he was in, and despite hating him so much; she couldn't bring herself to let go of the bloodied kumo-nin. Why couldn't she just let him die and keep going?

"TSUNADE-SAMA, DO SOMETHING!" Shizune tried to get the woman to react, but the Sannin was frozen in place. They had no time to waste, so Shizune placed Tonton on the ground. She knew the pig would stay put while she began unsealing medical equipment from a scroll.

She separated K and Tsunade from each other and laid him out on the ground. The woman had no choice but to operate in the street. She had gotten extremely serious, pushing aside her previous encounter with the man, and giving him a chance to see another day.

Tsunade's clothes were stained in K's blood, and her eyes weren't focused on anything at all. Another bloodied ninja dying in her arms brought back terrible memories, and she was consumed by thoughts from her past, while her student had already gotten to work.

Another person made an appearance, and this time it was Goku. He was shocked to see Tsunade just standing there battling her own thoughts, and Shizune leading the way to heal his sensei. Nothing made sense to Goku anymore, as he ran up to his sensei's side to see if he was still alive, "K!"

"Quiet down, Goku, I need to focus," Shizune's hands were covered in green aura as she tried to fix the extensive damage done to his body. He had cuts, burns, and his muscles were nearly all torn apart. The man truly had pushed himself past his limits to find her and Tsunade, and should she be successful in his healing; it would all be worth it.

She wasn't going to admit it out loud, but it was slightly overwhelming due to all of his injuries. Shizune was a capable medic, but she was no where near Tsunade, and this wasn't the type of thing she would do in the hospital alone. This was strictly due to the circumstances, and she surely didn't expect Tsunade to tense up like that.

Goku didn't need Shizune to say a word to see that she was having a hard time. There were so many things that needed to be done, and he only wished he could help. The boy didn't like to make situations worse, but Tsunade was angering him to no end. "Old lady, you need to snap out of right now!" He jumped up and ran to Tsunade, pulling on her hand. "Your friend can't save K's life all by herself!"

"W-Why should I help?"

"Because I _need_ my sensei!" Goku groaned when she just looked at him with a blank expression. "You can't just let him die like this! Sure he's a piece of shit, but he's my piece of shit okay, and I kind of like him!"

"Will you finally leave me alone?" Tsunade was starting to gain her personality back, "I'm trying to get away from you two, yet you keep popping back up."

"I promise we will never cross paths for the rest of our lives, if you just help me this one last time," Goku held out his pinky, "I'll make sure of it."

Tsunade doubted it would happen like that, but she wrapped her pinky around his, "Fine, I'll help, but I'm only doing the bare minimum. He still deserves what's coming to him." The blonde shinobi walked over to the other side of K's body and joined in on healing the man.

She dipped into the medical equipment they had and immediately started working. The woman showed off her level of skill, using one hand to stitch the hole in his chest, and the other to steadily repair his muscle damage with her green chakra. Shizune covered the areas Tsunade didn't by healing his burns and cuts that were all over his body. They were demonstrating why they were a great team, and K's heart beat went from sporadic to steady.

"Is K-sensei going to be alright?" Goku ran up to the medics with wide eyes.

"He's going to be just fine, Goku," Tsunade offered a smile to the boy.

"Can you repair his emotions while you're at it?"

. . .

(The Next Day, Ran'un Hotel)

K sat up in the bed and looked around. Goku, Tsunade, and Shizune sat around a table eating breakfast, while discussing the events from the night before. His vision was hazy at first, but eventually things started to come into focus. He was returned back to his hotel room at the Ran'un casino, but last thing he remembered was blacking out in a street.

Tsunade took a sip of her coffee as she looked at the now conscious K, "Hm, good morning."

He lifted his hands and stared for a moment. They were covered in bandages, as were his arms, legs, and feet. His attention shifted to Tsunade, "I appreciate the help." The man wanted to get up and walk around his room, but he went through great pain just by moving his arms. He decided to sit back for once, "We can arrange payment soon."

The blonde smiled as she sipped her coffee. She rested her knuckle against her cheek as she watched K cringe in pain with every slight movement. Tsunade had truly done the bare minimum for the injured shinobi, since she still wanted him to suffer.

"How long will K be in bed?" Goku asked once he had finished his food and pushed it to the side.

"Two more days if he listens to me," Tsunade grinned, confident in her abilities. "Give me 20,000 more ryo and I'll make sure K makes the full recovery he needs to."

"But I only made 40,000 that night at the casino!" Goku slammed his fist against the table, "K already handed over 13,000 to you, that would leave me with…" It was times like these when Goku hated math. "Shit, 7,000!"

"Don't you want a healthy sensei, Goku?" Tsunade raised a brow as she drunk her coffee.

"Don't be foolish, Goku," K said as he rested his head against the comfortable pillow. "We can't risk not making it to Iwagakure on time."

Goku was going to give Tsunade the money regardless, since he did want K to make a full recovery, but it was just the thought of all that money being looted from his pockets. He playfully pouted, "Fine, 20,000 sounds like a deal."

"I'll you pay you back once we return, Goku," K closed his eyes so he could meditate and peacefully heal. "We have two days until I can move as I once did, and that leaves one day to make it to Iwagakure and still be on schedule."

"What am I supposed to do in the mean time?" The boy wondered as he picked up his plate to return it to the kitchen.

"As much as I want to leave, I still have to look over your sensei, so you're going to be helping me out, Goku," Tsunade said while Shizune nodded. "I'm also going to give you a few tips so you don't get knocked out by one powerful kick ever again. It's the least I can do for a little gaki like you."

That didn't sound that bad to Goku. He would get the chance to make his money back and then some during his free time, and he'd be able to train with one of the most powerful ninja in the world. The boy grinned at the thought, "Ok, that sounds like a plan!" His tone changed when he looked at K, "I'm not helping bathe him though, he's on his own."

"I agree completely," Tsunade and Goku laughed when K's face almost twisted into a scowl.

"Don't worry, K-sama, I'll be more than glad to help you with whatever you need," Shizune offered, her and Tonton smiled simultaneously.

Tsunade and Goku spoke in unison, "That's disgusting."

. . .

(Outside of Tobaku)

A duo of shinobi were arriving at an illuminated sign that said 'Welcome to Tobaku' written in kanji. It was a teenage girl and boy, the girl being the taller of the two. She had her hands on her hips, but they shifted as she ran a hand through her short black hair. The girl wore a red uniform with a the right sleeve missing and a lapel over her right leg. Her flak jacket was brown, and her headband was tied proudly around her head.

The boy had long, spiky black hair that nearly touched the ground and a strong widow's peak. He wore a navy blue long sleeve with matching pants, with red bands tied around his arm and leg. His headband was tied similar to a bandana around his neck, "What is this?" He looked up to the girl that was superior for this mission.

"Can't you read, it's Tobaku," She rolled her eyes as she pointed at the sign. "I haven't been here since I was little though, I doubt much has changed."

"I'd advise you not to talk to me like that," The boy spat out before he walked into the town without caring whether she followed him or not.

"I talk however I want kid, I'm not like everyone else," She responded with a smile. He turned and looked at her with a glare, "I don't give a shit who you are to the village, you're just another kid to me, now keep moving."

He had to put his pride to the side for a moment, "Tch, whatever." The boy looked around at all the flashing lights in the town, "What are we here for in the first place?"

"We're here to collect the earnings from the casinos."

. . .

 _I'll be back in full effect next chapter, thanks for the reviews too._ Next Chapter: _It's A Small World_


	8. It's A Small World

_**A/N ~**_ _I've heard some complaints about the strength of Goku as compared to the shinobi in Naruto, and how he'd probably mop the floor with_ everyone _regardless of his age. In any general debate, I'd probably agree, but in order keep this story entertaining; I've decided to keep the power levels modest and even throughout the universe. It'd be no fun if I let the universe's best run amok among these shinobi's, and it's not like they're regular humans, so I think they can realistically hold their own. Stay wAvy, kids._

 _It's A Small World_

K had been sitting in bed all day, like Tsunade had told him to do. It pained him mentally to sit and watch the world move from his bed, but it also pained him physically to walk. He was better than he was before, and for that he's grateful.

Tsunade and Shizune had left to handle business, which the two kumo-nin assumed as gambling. They were making money off of them, and K was sure they wanted to waste it in the casino.

That left only Goku to watch over his sensei, and he was bored to say the least. He had his hand pressed against his cheek, as he was slowly falling asleep. K didn't have much to say, and didn't really care to talk to the boy.

The room was dead silent.

A fly landed on top of Goku's nose and he shot up out of his seat and nearly crashed through the roof, "WHAT WAS THAT!?" He tumbled back onto the ground and got into a defensive stance.

"Don't be foolish, Goku," with a simple flick of his finger; a compressed blast of air shot across the room and killed the fly immediately. The man sighed, "Now quiet down, I'm trying to rest."

"This is what you call rest?" Goku walked up to the end of the man's bed and leaned over. "You haven't shut your eyes once. You just sit up and stare at shit all day."

K raised his finger to correct Goku, "It's very rare a shinobi gets time like this during a mission." The stoic man leaned back against the headboard and looked up toward the roof, "After coming so close to death, the last thing on my mind is sleep." He shot a glance at Goku after saying that.

The boy raised a curious brow, "That's true, you did come close to dying," Goku tapped his chin. "In fact, I _felt_ you die, how the hell did you make it out of that alive?"

The jounin folded his arms, "A very special technique." This answer didn't please Goku in the slightest, and he sucked his teeth. K shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at Goku. He would at least give him the name, "It's called the **Kaio-ken** (World King Fist)."

"Eh, that doesn't explain a damn thing, K-sensei," The alien rolled his eyes and pouted his lip. He understood there were certain techniques that could dodge death, but from what he had heard; the Kaio-ken was just a strength buffer. "How the hell did you avoid dying because the Kaio-ken?"

K pushed himself up to sit up straight. A small sigh escaped his lips, "The Kaio-ken multiplies your natural energy in exchange for a heartbeat," He explained to his student. K could tell the boy was struggling to understand, "It was just my heart skipping a beat once Kaio-ken activated."

"So you didn't die?"

"Technically, yes," K was slowly sliding under his covers. "But I'm alive right now, so, no." He wrapped himself in the blanket and shut his eyes. The man had eased his conscious somewhat, and thought he could sleep for once. "Now run along, Goku, I must get my rest."

"You get pretty talkative when you're sleepy, K," Goku joked, but one last stern glance from his sensei made him jump and go in another room.

Until Tsunade and Shizune returned, he was on K-watch.

. . .

A man sat on a slab of rock with his legs crossed. He rested his cheek in his hand as he listened to the woman before him ramble on and on about what she saw. He then held his hand out, "Wait, wait, so this kid's a genin?" The woman nodded, "And him and his sensei are a two man squad that are already leaving their country? That's unheard of."

"This whole situation is _unheard of_ ," Tsunade hissed through her teeth. "The boy's not normal at all, and neither is his sensei."

"I've heard about the boy, what of his sensei?" Jiraiya questioned, as he straightened out his stature. He was interested again.

"This man's a monster, he can boost his power level beyond normal limits, and no it's not the eight gates. The drawbacks aren't as fatal, if there are any," Tsunade explained to Jiraiya, who was quietly taking down notes as she talked. "The man's an emotionless, cold, spiritually dead person, and the only reason he had any damage done to his body was because of the chain of explosions he was unfortunate enough to be caught in."

The man was writing as fast as he could, "Tsunade-hime, slow down!"

"He's kind of handsome too," Shizune didn't fail to add, but shut her lips when Tsunade glared at her.

Jiraiya had finished writing in his notepad, "Anything else you want to add, ladies?" He looked up and raised his brow with a smirk on his face.

"He's a manipulative rat, and a compulsive liar too," Tsunade threw one last thing in and then rolled her eyes.

"Hm," Jiraiya looked over his notes on Goku and K. He couldn't hold back his smile, he had a master piece on his hands. "So you have a handsome devil with no outward emotion, and an upbeat alien with a monkey tail who's kind of pervert?" They both nodded at Jiraiya, and then their jaws dropped.

"Wait, Goku is an alien!?" Tsunade grabbed Jiraiya by his shirt and pulled him into her face. "What the hell do you mean he's an alien!?"

"Oops, wasn't supposed to let that slip," Jiraiya lightly tugged on his collar with his freehand. His slip up in information wasn't an accident, he felt like Tsunade had a right to know. "Yes, he's an alien. Just imagine it now, Tales of the Great Ape: Son Goku. It's going to be a smash hit, especially with this K character playing a supporting role. I'm going to be ri-" Jiraiya's head was smacked into rock he was sitting on.

He slowly fell to the ground and Tsunade shook her aching hand after punching him. She gritted her teeth and pressed her heel onto Jiraiya's chest, "You tell me everything you know about Goku right now, and don't skip a damn detail." The woman looked at Jiraiya, and he mouthed the words 'or what?' She lifted her foot from his chest, "Or my whole foot is going to be so far up your ass, you'll be able to see my painted toes in yo-"

"Ok, calm down. I'll spill the beans," Jiraiya smiled at Tsunade and she stepped away from him. A feeling of relief washed over him, and he felt safe enough to sit back on his slab of rock. "Now what I say stays between us, and doesn't end up in K's ears, or Goku's, because as far as I know; he has no clue."

Both women nodded their heads in agreement.

"And I wouldn't want the infamous K to rip your innards from your stomach and make Shizune eat them," Both women looked at Jiraiya in horror, "What? I'm just kidding, girls, calm down. He doesn't do that type of stuff." He offered a weak smile.

"Oh, thank god," Shizune had her hand over her heart. "His name is the Limitless K by the way."

"Infamous K, Immortal K, K The Soulless.. I like my names better, Shizune," The woman rolled her eyes, and he grinned. "I'm a writer you know."

"Could you two stop fucking around!?" Tsunade stomped her foot against the ground and Jiraiya could have sworn the Earth shook. Both Jiraiya and Shizune tensed up, and the man began to tell the story of Goku's origins, or at least what he knew.

"About ten years ago, a ship crash landed in Kumogakure's outskirts," He tried to paint the picture with his words, as well as goofy hand gestures. "A man named Son Gohan discovered it, and found a baby boy housed within; the man named him Goku. The boy has had powerful reserves since the day he was born."

"That doesn't really explain the tail," Shizune furrowed her brow while listening.

"It's relative to his race," Jiraiya held his index finger up and explained. "There are more out there like Goku, but he was raised like a shinobi, and it shows. Son Gohan wanted him to be the boy that changed the world for the better, and his village wanted him to be a nuke that could wipe out entire armies."

"Like a jinchuuriki?" Tsunade asked with a raised brow.

"Yup, like a jinchuuriki, except Goku was born this way. That's what so scary about this, and the fact that there's more is even worse." Jiraiya closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath, "Goku is strong, but the ones that crash landed not too far from here are even stronger. They landed in Tsuchi no Kuni about five years ago, and have been working under the Tsuchikage as a pseudo-genin squad ever since."

"Iwa has three of them?" Tsunade's eyes widened, as the thought of three well trained Goku's was stuck on her brain. The boy was dangerous in his own right, and with the proper training he'd be a beast, but it seems like someone beat him to it. It didn't help that they had landed in the lap of one of the most power hungry men in the world, "That old geezer is going to turn this world upside down, he already has two jinchuuriki under his belt."

Jiraiya smirked, "That's why we've gotta hit grandpa where it hurts, so he never has a chance to make this super army work." The man punched the air and stuck with the pose afterward, "Right in his fun parts, and we'll shut him down in an instant."

"How are we going to do that, idiot?" Tsunade knew Jiraiya had something planned, but couldn't make it out.

"We're going to turn his army against him," Jiraiya said smoothly as he folded his arms and smirked.

"What if doesn't work?" Shizune questioned the legendary ninja.

"I'm still working out the kinks, but I think it's flawless."

. . .

(Ran'un, Tobaku)

The door to their suite cracked open and the duo of shinobi stared at it until Shizune and Tsunade entered with grocery bags. K gave a slight nod, and Goku was extremely ecstatic to see the women return after being gone for hours.

He jumped up, "Shizune-chan, I think K needs to be bathed." The boy playfully plugged his nose, "He's not smelling like the best shinobi in the world right now."

"I'm fine," K knew Goku was playing around, because he was masking his scent until he could wash himself. "Don't be foolish, Goku, go and help them carry the bags." He 'shooed' the boy like a dog, and Goku did as told.

The boy was handed all of the groceries and he took them into the kitchen, while Tsunade walked over to K's bedside.

"How are you feeling, K?" Despite the strong dislike for the man, she could at least be cordial while he was paying her.

"Better," K stated simply. He looked up at her and gave her a dry nod, "Things are starting to feel normal again." He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers for demonstration, since the day before he had lost most of his feeling in his body.

Shizune strolled up to K's bed with a smile on her face, "Are you hungry, K-sama?"

"No," He pointed in the direction of the kitchen, "Goku, however, has been complaining. He wants food."

The black haired woman nodded, "I'll get right to it," She held Tonton against her chest and walked away. "Goku, get some of that chicken meat out of the bags; we're about to make dinner!"

K and Tsunade heard Goku cheer loudly from the kitchen, and that left the two of them alone in the main bedroom.

The blonde haired woman looked him over one more time and frowned lightly. She was intrigued, "You don't eat, you don't sleep, and you barely talk." K responded with a simple nod, "Are you even alive?" She asked in a half-serious tone, but the other half was hinting at a joke.

The man shrugged his shoulders and looked away from Tsunade. He knew where this conversation would end, and he didn't want to go down that road. K would respond with a quick, "Yes." While she seemed strong on the outside, K knew he could break her down to her very core, and he had no interest in doing it right now.

The woman had to bite her lip before she raised her voice with K. His conversation skills were so dry, "Well I suggest you eat something." She grabbed the man's hand and coated it in green chakra, all she got was a blank stare for the action. "You're recovery is going smoothly, but it wouldn't hurt if you had some of the herbal tea I bought while I was out."

"As you wish," K looked away from Tsunade and toward the kitchen.

It was followed by an awkward silence, as Tsunade released his hand and let hers fall to her side. "Um… okay," The woman pushed herself off of the bed and went to sit at the table. She had a stack of medical notes about K and Goku, which the latter had gotten grease from food on. "Shizune, brew up some tea for me and K while you're at it."

While Tsunade read over medical notes, and started skimming through a few books; the food had been prepared, and a cup of hot tea was placed before her. Goku sat down at the table with a huge plate of Chicken Teriyaki made by him and Shizune, "Hey, kid." The boy looked at her with his mouth open, "Get any of that damn sauce on my papers again, and you're going to be worse off than K right now, understand?"

Goku nodded his head and immediately started to dig into the plate before him.

Shizune took the other cup of tea to K, "Please, sip slow. It's very hot." The man just nodded his head, and she went back to the kitchen to get Goku something to drink. She returned with a tall glass of water for the boy to wash his food down with, and she was surprised to see he was done eating already.

"More please!" Goku held up his plate to Shizune and her jaw slacked.

"O-Of course, Goku," Shizune returned to the kitchen.

'This kid eats like a fucking monster,' Tsunade watched the whole thing in disgust. The boy barely chewed his food and nearly swallowed the pieces of chicken whole. "Do you have any home training, boy?"

"What's that?" Goku asked as he slammed his fork and knife against the table in excitement when Shizune put another plate in front of him.

"Something your mother should have taught you a long time ago!" The woman slammed her book against the table.

"I think Mabui-chan taught me that," He said in between bites, "But what's it worth if I'm never at home? I'm a shinobi!"

"You should also be a gentlemen," Tsunade said through her teeth, as the sound of Goku smacking lips as he ate hurt her ears.

" _Goku_ , _"_ The malevolent aura Tsunade felt the other day creeped up her spine, and K's peaceful tea drinking was being interrupted by Goku's animal-like eating. He wasn't happy.

Tsunade balled up her fist while staring at Goku, "If I hear your lips smack against each other one more time, I'll tear them off, and that's not a threat." She wasn't happy with him either.

The food Goku was chewing on literally fell from his mouth and back onto his plate, "What is it then?"

"It's a promise," K and Tsunade said in unison, as both adults glared at Goku.

Shizune stood in the doorway of the room with a platter of food, frozen. Goku was stuck sitting there with his fork in his hand, and the room was dead for a moment.

K taking a sip of his tea broke the silence, "Good, now carry on."

. . .

(Tobaku)

Kurotsuchi had hers hands placed on her hips while she took wide steps through Tobaku. Their collections today had been slim to say the least, and she knew the Tsuchikage would be dissatisfied with the results. Her face cringed at the thought of him yelling at her, and they approached the last casino they had yet to collect from. Hopefully this one made bank, "Yo, Raditz, go in there and get the money." She sighed and leaned against the wall.

"No," He stated flatly, as he folded his arms and frowned at the older shinobi. They had been collecting money from casinos all day, and from what he could see; they were less than fruitful in their endeavors. The boy strolled up to Kurotsuchi and nearly growled, "This type of grunt work is beneath me, you go in there and get the damned money yourself."

For the whole day, she had been dealing with Raditz's pride and attitude. She was sick of it, he was just a kid, and had no reason to speak his superior like that. The girl was quick to grab him by his collar and pull him in, "Listen to me, kid. I've told you a million times, and I'll tell you a million times more if I have to you; you are a _nobody_ here, understand?" She was expecting a scared nod of the head, but Raditz responded differently.

He threw his head into hers with a lot of force, and she instantly let go of the boy. There was a tiny smidge of blood coming from both of their heads, but Raditz didn't seem affected by the pain. Kurotsuchi screamed out while holding her head, "Here's what you need to understand, girl," He pointed at her and grit his teeth. "Our circumstances are merely a formality, I outclass you in every way possible, and I think you should start respecting that from now on."

"You fucking runt!" The girl yelled out, but didn't attack. "You're nothing but a fucking test tube baby gone wrong! You're nobody!"

Raditz's face twisted into a scowl, "Another thing for you to wrap your thick skull around, girl," The boy pointed toward the sky now. "I am not one of this world's sorry experiments, I am one of the mightiest warriors ever birthed in this universe. This sad planet's sad excuse of a warrior pales in comparison to my race."

"Then why don't you take your ass back to wherever you came from?" Kurotsuchi spat out in disgust.

"I have business here I need to handle," Raditz replied calmly. Everything she would throw at him, he would meet with a finely thought out retort. "But don't get me mistaken, all it takes is a flick of the wrist, and this world's doomed. His army would tear this planet to shreds," He opened his palm and released a blast of ki that flew away at high speeds. It was followed by a prideful laugh, and Kurotsuchi standing there in shock.

"What the hell did you just do?" She moved her hands from head and stared at her palms. The simple thought of more beings like _Raditz_ made her heart race. "A-And there's more of you?"

"HA! Of course there's more like me, hell some are even stronger!" He was laughing like a mad man, and everyone in the street simply looked over. He didn't want the people being scared of him, just Kurotsuchi. He had nearly scared her to death with a simple blast of energy. The boy lowered his voice once again to not startle civilians, "So unless you want some new holes to excrete your filthy waste out of, I suggest you go get that money yourself."

Kurotsuchi stood there in silence. Had not only her life, but her whole planet been threatened by a teenage boy? And did she actually believe it? The girl pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before turning around and going into the casino like Raditz suggested she do. It was very rare that she tucked her tail between her legs and followed orders like that, but these were special circumstances.

Raditz chose to wait outside for her to return. The boy leaned against the wall, unintelligibly mumbling to himself about his dislike for 'humans.' He got a few concerned looks, but nothing he should be worried about. Raditz rested his head against the wall of the casino and tried to stay patient. Hopefully she would come out with the money they needed, and they could go home.

After thirty minutes went by, it was safe to say his patience had been tested. The boy was about to charge into the casino and pull the kunoichi out by her hair, but she was lucky enough to come out the front of the casino before he exploded. She had a small sack of cash and a frown on her face, "What's the problem, girl?" He looked up with a furrowed brow. "Don't tell me we came all this way for chump change."

She nodded her head and then shook it in disappointment, "This whole town is full of excuses. One of the employees told me a Kumogakure genin with a tail ran them for most of their profits, so we're looking at an additional 10,000 ryo to what we already had." Kurotsuchi smacked her face with her own palm, "At this rate, Iwagakure's going to be broke forever, and the Daiymo's going to end up outsourcing all of our work to fucking Konoha like everyone else."

Raditz was quick to disregard everything she said and focused on, "A tail, you say?" He took a step closer to the girl and grabbed her by her collar. "What does this tail look like, give me details."

"A fucking monkey tail or something, why?" She ripped his hand off of her collar and threw the bag of money over her shoulder.

The boy's eyes went wide, "A monkey tail!?" Raditz shook his head, "There's no way! We must investigate!"

"We don't have the time," Kurotsuchi walked away from the casino cooly and wasn't surprised when Raditz stood there like a stubborn child. She turned slightly, "They said he was from Kumo, and we're expecting some Kumo-nin to be coming to Iwa in a few days, it's probably one of them. Just hold your horses, we can't have you digging your head in foreign affairs. You're too young." Even though he made previous threats, she still had a mission, and it was now over. They had no reason to be in Tobaku, "My grandfather wouldn't appreciate us fucking around either."

Raditz groaned as he walked after Kurotsuchi and folded his arms. Being told he was too young was frustrating, but he didn't want to deal with the Tsuchikage. He was one of the few men in the universe that he actually respected, and somewhat feared because of what he was capable of.

He had no intentions on being on his bad side. 

. . .

(Location Unknown)

The loud sound of alarms going off filled the entire base, and a red light flashed non-stop. Warriors charged through the base to find the root of the problem. The alarm going off was followed by the sound of an intercom clicking on, and a voice speaking into the microphone, "Find the problem and exterminate it _immediately,"_ A slight chuckle escaped the lips of the voice, "Unless you want die by my hands."

"So much for the quiet entrance I had hoped for," A masked man stood tall and brushed burnt flakes off of his clothing. He wore a black long sleeve that covered his neck and chin, as well as black pants, sandals, and white stirrups. The man's mask only had one eye-hole, and it blazed a brilliant color of red, as his eye was in its sharingan state. At his feet was a completely burned black cloak with red clouds on it. "We should get moving, Zetsu."

A half-black, half-white figure rose from the ground as if it were intangible with a wild grin plastered on his face, "Yes we should, about 50 of those _things_ are charging down here as we speak."

"Hm, you have some nerve to call them things," The masked man looked toward the door to the room that they were currently in. He then looked at the door of the room and cracked his knuckles, "You survey the entire base, find the leader of this army, and report anything interesting to me." The man waved Zetsu off with his hand and the creature smiled.

He began to sink into the ground, "Have fun!" The plant-like creature waved off to the masked man before completely disappearing.

The masked man sucked his teeth and rolled his visible eye. The door was instantly kicked in, flying right through him, and smashing into the wall. He waved politely to the growing crowd in the doorway, "No need to be hostile, gentlemen. I come in peace," The man proceeded to hold his hands up in the air to show he meant no harm.

"You sneak into our base and expect us to believe that shit!?" A large purple creature yelled at the man, he had attena stemming from his head that fell over his face like strands of hair. He pointed at the masked shinobi and yelled, "KILL HIM!"

Many creatures tore through the everything that stood in their way just to get to the man. They came at him from every side of the room, destroying everything in their path. He quickly looked around at his attackers, before flying through hand seals and pressing his hands against the ground.

They very ground they stood on began to uproot and shoot out spikes that impaled all of the attackers that were unfortunate enough to be near him. Blood sprayed and splattered all across the room, and the masked man stood in the middle of it without a scratch on him. Similar to his partner, he sunk into the ground with great ease, and left the remaining survivor who commanded his subordinates to attack standing in horror.

He shakily tried to get as far away from the doorway as he could, but backed into the wall. His jaw had been dropped this entire time, and when he saw more support running down the hall of the base; he wasn't sure he could exactly explain what he had just witnessed. The creature was sweating profusely and at a loss for words.

A short and round green creature with four eyes ran up to the shocked man and raised a brow, "W-What happened?" He asked, as he commanded his squad to come a halt. "Where's the intruder!?"

"H-he killed everyone and then dis-disappeared!" The purple creature was close to sobbing after being unable to unsee what he had just witnessed. It was the most gruesome murder he had seen, and he'd seen some things during his days.

"You have to be the saddest excuse of a captain this universe has ever seen!" The green one yelled and pointed at the purple man. He grit his teeth and tried to feel for the intruder's energy, and nothing returned. "And you let the damned intruder get away!"

A humanoid figure came out head first from the roof and only revealed his torso while he phased through the roof. The masked man once again held up his hands to show he was peaceful, but it didn't mean much to the warriors, "Don't be so harsh on him, I didn't escape." He tried to save the underlings reputation, but it was probably over for that. "Focus your energy on me instead."

As instructed, everyone present sent blasts of energy at the masked man, and were very upset when there was no dead body, but a brand new hole in the roof of their military base. The small green creature that was in charge ran up to the hole and stared through it, "That's impossible! Where'd he g-"

The masked man materialized behind him and was quicker than he had expected, "Boo." He said in a dry voice. His fingers were placed on top of one of its four eyes, and the creature's reaction surprised the masked man.

Faster than his eye could keep up with, everything within his vicinity had been frozen still. His thoughts were frozen after that, and the only thing that could move beyond that point was the green creature being assaulted. He quickly backed away from the masked man with fear written all over his face, he stumbled and fell onto the ground, "What the hell is he!?" The creature shook his head and decided to move into his offense, and charged up a blast of energy before flinging it right at the man.

Time had unfrozen and the creature looked on in horror when his blast sailed right through the man, and crashed into the purple man he was yelling at not too long ago. The man's single visible Sharingan eye tomoe spun and he didn't look pleased, "Alien or not, that certainly wasn't normal. I know your fat ass isn't that quick." His sharingan flared and the green creature dropped to the ground in an instant. "A piece of advice to the rest of you, don't make eye contact with me unless you want to end up like your friend." He walked up to the body of the twitching green alien and crouched down.

The rest of the soldiers were frozen in horror. Their mission leader was rendered useless in an instant, and he was supposed to be the strongest next to their actual leader on the planet. A visual distortion spun outward from the masked man's eye and absorbed the green alien's body, and once it ended; he had completely vanished. The masked man stood up once more and looked through the soldiers, most of them heeding to his advice, and the ones that didn't dropped to the ground immediately.

"Now, I have no intention of killing the rest of you, unless you don't want to cooperate," He shot one last glare through the crowd, and could literally feel fear coming from their body. This was fun, "Tell me where you leader is or I'll kill every single last one of you."

He was scared to death, but he wouldn't rat out his almighty leader. The alien slowly turned his head and closed his eyes, "Fuck you!" Everyone followed his lead and yelled the obscenity at him. They were still scared, but they feared the voice that boomed over the intercom earlier even more.

"Okay, fine by me," The man was just about to jump into battle with the warriors, but once Zetsu sprout up from the ground and pushed him back; he actually stopped. "What did you find?"

"Some things we should look into later, but I think I found their leader," He grinned and cackled crazily.

"Really?"

Zetsu nodded, "After tearing through a majority of his forces posted on this planet, he's pretty much expecting you at this point," He couldn't hold back his laugh when he twisted his body to look at the soldiers that had survived the assault from the masked man. "You can stop harassing these sorry grunts and get moving, he's north of here. He's located in the biggest building."

"Very well, I appreciate the help, Zetsu." The man disappeared in a spatial distortion and left Zetsu with the soldiers.

"Keep it moving fellas, there's nothing to see here!" He slowly started to sink back into the ground, "Just be happy you're alive!"

. . .

Next Chapter: _The Melting Pot_


	9. The Melting Pot

_The Melting Pot_

The alien stood calmly while staring out a big window. His window gave him a view of the city, and he frowned slightly. The whole city was in flames, which is what he had wanted, but he had lost half of his forces in the process to one man from _Earth_ , "That wretched creature..," He said to himself, as he swung his tail.

"I tried to tell them I meant no harm," A new voice boomed through the alien's base of operations, and he instantly shot a large blast of ki to where he thought the source was. The explosion from the blast was enough to rock the building, and large pieces from the roof fell to the ground, but nobody fell with it to confirm a kill. "I come in peace, Lord Frieza."

Frieza stomped forward, his killing intent rising to inhuman levels. He had a scowl on his face, and was just about ready to end the intruder's shenanigans, "Show yourself at once!"

The masked man rose from the ground slowly, and appeared right before Frieza as he wished. The man's sharingan eye flared to life, but Frieza was much wiser than his subordinates, and had a compressed blast of key aimed at the single visible eye in an instant, "As I said, I came here in peace. I simply wish to discuss some important matters."

"You're not very convincing, human! This simple mission to destroy this planet has been completely ruined by you taking a portion of my forces with it! I want you dead right now!" Frieza shot the blast at the masked man and it flew right through him. The alien grit his teeth as he threw a volley of blasts right after out of rage, and got the same result.

The man sunk into the ground to avoid being hit, but his voice still bellowed throughout the room, "I'm more valuable to you alive than I am dead."

"There's nothing you can do for me, human," He looked around and tried to sense the masked man's energy so he could finish him off.

"Not even if I told you about the location of three of your rogue soldiers?" The man decided to reveal himself, as he stood behind Frieza with the smile on his face hidden by his mask. He folded his arms, as another blast shot through his body and crashed through the window. "Not just any soldier either, they're very important from what I hear."

Frieza held his open palm out toward the masked man and smiled, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested." A blast of ki slowly started to charge in his palm, "Go on, human."

"Three of the last living saiyans that you were interested in," The alien's hand was still aimed at him, "Among them is Prince of all saiyans, Vegeta." He smiled as he watched Frieza smile as well. "I'm willing to trade them for your services."

. . .

(The Next Day / Tobaku)

K put on his black top and cracked his knuckles. He slid into his gloves next, and finished by putting his hair into a ponytail.

Tsunade was packing all of her medical equipment while Shizune helped.

Goku sat on top of the table with his bag in his lap. Him and K were finally getting ready to depart for Iwagakure after being sidetracked in Tobaku for a couple of days. The man had fully recovered from the fight with the Takigakure shinobi and he was physically able to lead Goku to their destination.

"Thank you," K looked at Tsunade and a shadow of a smile creeped onto his face. He put on his travel bag and gestured toward Goku, "Get your stuff, Goku, we're leaving."

Tsunade nodded her head solemnly as she strapped up her bag with a slight smile. K's 'smile' was the closest thing to emotion he had ever expressed since she had met him. "It's the least I could do," She was grateful for her large amounts of payment. "You did get me out of a hole, so I should be saying thank you to you."

"It's nothing," K waved it off and walked toward the door. "Perhaps we'll meet again one day, Tsunade, Shizune." He offered a slight nod before opening the door and gesturing Goku toward it.

"Hopefully not," Tsunade admitted honestly and Shizune handed Tonton over to her. "You two were the worst thing to happen to my life in the last decade, I'd rather not cross paths again."

"TSUNADE-SAMA!" Shizune looked at her with wide eyes and a furrowed brow. "Be polite!" She smiled at K, "We would love to see you and Goku-kun soon, we wish you the best in your travels."

Tsunade mumbled something under her breath and rolled her eyes.

"Farewell," K pushed Goku out of the door and the two strolled down the hallway. "We have to move fast, Iwagakure is expecting us tomorrow."

Goku frowned, he had gotten used to relaxing for these last few days. Now he was being thrown back into the field to run through the desolate areas that Tsuchi no Kuni had to offer, "You sure we can't stay at another hotel for a few more days?" He extended his arm and let out a yawn.

"No, your relaxation is over," K glared at Goku. The boy didn't utilize his time off in any way, just eating and blowing away money at the casino. He had never been more disappointed, "You need to train."

"Are you ever going to teach me something?" Goku looked up at his sensei with a raised brow and smiled. "I've been waiting on you for these past few days."

"You don't need me to better yourself," K chided and placed his hand on top of Goku's head. "But I will once we arrive in Iwagakure."

The two made their way out of the hotel, K was trusting Tsunade to check them out of the hotel. He would probably regret that in hindsight. They had an important meeting, so the duo had no time to waste. The two were out of the gates in a short amount of time, and they were back in the wastelands of Tsuchi no Kuni trying to get to Iwagakure.

Goku and K passed through more small towns but had no time to stop. The newly minted Genin was more than exhausted, and a bit hungry. K was completely calm, being used to his own methods of travel, and cracked down on Goku whenever he complained.

The boy had a map in his hands as his finger traced over their trail to Iwagakure. He frowned, knowing they wouldn't be there for a few hours, "K, when can stop for FOOD?" Goku looked up at his sensei with hopeful eyes, but got the usual blank stare in return.

K looked down on the boy with the small ponytail, "We're going to be Iwa in a matter of hours." He took the map from Goku's hands, "We don't have time to stop."

"But I'm hungry!" Goku yelled out and stomped his foot against the ground.

Goku's sensei shot a cold glare down at the boy and frowned, "Goku, what I said stands." K silenced Goku and they continued moving toward the hidden village.

Goku folded his arms over each other and was extremely close to throwing a tantrum, but he knew he wanted no parts in K's wrath. He saw what he was capable of with just his words, so he would hold in his anger.

"How come we've gotta be there so fast?" Goku asked with a raised brow.

"We have a meeting with the Tsuchikage as soon as we arrive," K almost cringed at the thought of making the old man mad. "We cannot be late."

The boy simply nodded and kept walking. He just wanted to eat.

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

Kakashi and Naruto were crouched down in a tree while watching a few people walk through the forest. The copy ninja had his sharingan eye revealed as he watched their every movement. Naruto was just keeping track of their movements the best he could, his new sword strapped to his back.

They were watching a group of four, among them two shinobi, a man wearing a suit, and a very large man wearing a bandana around his neck. The latter was carrying a large crate on his shoulder. Eventually all four of them came to a stop.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on?" Naruto whispered to his teacher.

"It's a deal, I think," Kakashi informed his pupil as he tried to focus on the crate now. He couldn't make out what was on the inside, since his sharingan was no where near the byakugan. "Stay quiet though, Naruto."

Kakashi was correct in his observation, as the large man set the crate down on the ground.

"And now we wait," The man wearing the suit said as he smiled, his left eye was covered by semi-transparent red monocle. He looked over to one of the shinobi he hired to guard him and numbers began popping up on the lense of his monocle, "You're about to witness history, Momochi."

'Momochi' was tall man with short, spiky black hair. He wore bandages around the bottom half of his face like a mask, and his headband on the side of his head. A large cleaver blade was strapped to his back. The man furrowed his brow, "I prefer Zabuza."

"Very well then, Zabuza-kun!" The man laughed as he turned his back on the swordsman and his partner who was wearing a Kirigakure ANBU mask.

"Gato-sama, in order for us to continue working for you, all we is ask for is respect," The masked shinobi spoke up, as he held back Zabuza, lest he cut the man in half. "Zabuza-sama and I will not tolerate being disrespected."

The large man with the navy, paisley bandana around his neck stared at both shinobi, "What're you going to do about it?" His words carried an air of a threat with them, and that nearly pushed Zabuza to the edge.

Gato shot a glance toward the masked shinobi, and another number appeared on his monocle. He then looked at Zabuza, who was leaking killing intent, and watched in awe as the number he saw spike at a fast rate. The man was even more surprised when monocle shattered into pieces once it couldn't keep up with the rate Zabuza was powering up. That couldn't be good.

The large man jumped in front of Gato before Zabuza could lash out and stab his boss with his oversized sword. He was lucky that the masked shinobi was present or else they would both be dead.

"Calm down," Gato held his hands up and smiled at Zabuza, no longer letting his fear be known. "I apologize, Zabuza."

The large sword was strapped back onto his back in an instant, and he grinned at Gato. "Good," He moved his partner's hand from holding him back, "Next time, Haku, don't worry about it." The man shot a stern glare at the boy and stepped forward.

"Kubikiribōchō, that's a fine weapon you have there." All eyes present locked onto the newcomer. He was a middle aged man with shoulder length black hair that covered half of his face. The man wore a black button down top, matching black pants, and black stirrups. His hands were wrapped in bandages. He took a few steps forward with his hands raised, "Hello, Gato."

Gato let out a deep breathe as he wiped away a newly formed bead of sweat, "Pleasure to meet you in person, Genji." The man wearing the suit snapped his fingers at his tall guard and he picked up the crate to present it before his customer. "You do have all the money, correct?"

The man nodded his head as he withdrew a scroll from his equipment pouch, "You have what I want?" Genji walked up to the crate and crouched down, he traced his hand over the edges smoothly. "I'd hate to come all this way to be dissatisfied."

Gato smiled, "Time is money, Genji-sama. I'd never waste your time," the mob boss walked up to the other side of the crate and held his hands behind his back. He looked down on the crate and then back at Genji, "This is the newest wave in military technology."

"I would rather be called G," His blank gaze went between the crate and Gato. "Open it, I want to see."

Gato's personal guard walked up to the crate as well as he lifted the top off of it. There were five smaller black crates arranged within it with different white kanji written on top of them. G scanned the boxes quickly and look at Gato.

"What is it?" He asked with a furrowed brow, wanting to make sure his money was being well spent.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order," Gato snapped at his guard and he lifted the top off of one of the black boxes. "These weapons are next level and worth every cent." The man held his hand out and his security guard placed a device in his grasp.

"This is called a 'Ray Gun,' correct?" G questioned as he watched Gato in curiousity.

"Yes," Gato nodded as he pulled the trigger on the ray gun and a laser-like beam blasted from the barrel and crashed into a tree. The tree itself wasn't severely damaged, but there was a large dent that was smoking from the blast. "No chakra needed."

All of the shinobi present, hidden and out in the open, watched in silence as he fired the ray gun off.

"Simple, but effective," G noted as he stepped forward and took the Ray Gun from Gato to examine it. He pointed it at Gato, "No chakra required, correct?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gato's face as he took a step back away from G, "Yeah, no chakra."

"Where did this come from?" He switched his aim to one of the trees, not yet pulling the trigger. He was intrigued, but wouldn't let childish curiosity take over and get trigger happy.

"I'd rather not say," Gato calmed down after the gun was no longer being pointed at him. "If I tell you, then I'm losing money because now you can go directly to the source."

"I can respect that," G let his hand fall down to his side and he turned to face Gato, Zabuza, Haku, and his guard. "What else is in this sample package?" He said as he calmly strolled forward to Gato.

"A scanning device, called a scouter, modified kunai, ray guns of course, arm cannons, and a special treat for my number one customer," Gato informed G as he held out his hand out for the scroll G still had in his other hand. "Assuming that you're pleased with what you see, I'll take the money in full."

G's face remained blank as he now had the ray gun pointed back at Gato, "Why shouldn't I just kill you?" He didn't falter when Zabuza, Haku, and his guard were positioning themselves to take action.

"Because then you'll have to deal with the Demon of The Mist," He grinned as the three people he hired to guard him moved to surround G.

"His loyalty can be bought, as well as his partner," His eyes averted to Gato's personal security, "And he's nothing but a grunt. All it takes is one shot and the tides will turn."

Zabuza had now drown his Kubikiribōchō and was ready to take action, but nothing had transpired, yet. He could only listen, and silently agree with G.

There was rustling sound in the bushes that drew everyone's attention away from G, and the man now aimed his newly acquired gun at said bush. This time he wasn't hesitant to test out the gun and shot a powerful beam at the bush.

Instead of the body of a spy they were expecting, they saw a now dead fox fall out of the bush. As Zabuza walked up to the dead fox, it popped into a poof of smoke, which made him jump backwards.

He turned to look at the rest of the group with a serious expression, which instantly stopped the threat of G killing Gato, "We're being watched."

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

Kakashi and Naruto had fled the scene long ago, using a clone to watch over the transaction, and distract them from noticing them. It was starting to transition to night in Hi no Kuni, and that meant their mission was finished for the day.

"What the hell was going on, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as they leapt from branch to branch to return to their resting spot.

"I'm not quite sure, but it's definitely dangerous," Kakashi looked back from where they were coming from and then his head snapped forward. "We can't let this information slip to anyone, Naruto. It's very serious, not even Tazuna-san can find out right now."

The boy was more than confused, "Huh, why not?"

"Because we can't worry him anymore than he already is while he's trying to build the bridge, it's our job to protect him," Kakashi reasoned with his student. "He's already scared of the very real threat of Gato trying to bring it down."

As they trekked through the forest, Naruto grabbed his head after a sudden jolt of pain, "Naruto what's wrong?"

"Remember what you said about the shadow clone technique, about the memories?" Naruto looked up to Kakashi with fear written all over his face.

"Yes, Naruto, tell me what happened," Kakashi was slightly worried by what he was about to hear.

"They found the henged clone and killed it, they're trying to hunt us down right now," Naruto explained to his sensei. "We need to re-group with Sasuke and Sakura."

"What about the weapons, did he show him more?" Kakashi asked as they continued to move at high speeds through the forest.

"No, he was about to kill Gato and then they discovered the clone," Naruto added in, as he worriedly watched his back through his travels.

"Very well then, let's pick it up, Naruto!" Kakashi disappeared from Naruto's view at high speeds, and the boy followed his sensei's lead.

There's no way they would just lay back and die.

. . .

 _I'm going to throw in this filler while I set up the next arc, it's important to the overall story though._ Next Chapter: _The Legendary Gato_


	10. The Legendary Gato

_The Legendary Gato_

G aimed his new ray gun out at Gato once more, "Did you not know we were being watched?" He asked with a furrowed brow. The deal he was participating in was barely legal, and he'd rather not be discovered as soon as it went down.

Gato shook his head worriedly, "Not at all!" The suited man shot a look at Zabuza, "It's those damn Konoha shinobi, I know it!" He walked up to Zabuza and pointed him in the direction of Nami no Kuni. They didn't need to exchange words to know what Gato was hinting at.

Haku and Zabuza disappeared in an instant, and Gato turned to face his personal security and G.

"You have problems with Konoha?" G asked, his gun still aimed at Gato. He didn't like being misled, and Gato didn't seem like the most trustworthy person at the moment.

"Not Konoha specifically, but the shinobi guarding Tazuna the bridge builder. They know I want to stop the construction of his bridge and have been plotting against me ever since," Gato informed G, his hands still up while the man pointed a gun at him.

"Before this deal can be finalized, there's more I must know," G took a step closer and pressed the gun against Gato's forehead and twitched his finger on the trigger, "Where did these weapons come from?"

Gato was sweating bullets when the gun pressed against his forehead. He knew the gun itself wasn't that powerful, but from point blank range he was almost guaranteed to be dead. He looked away slightly at his guard and the man was hesitant to strike G, because he would kill Gato. Gato himself grit his teeth and his eyes returned back to G's blank gaze, "They're not from this country."

G was far from satisfied with his answer, his expression getting serious while he stared at Gato, "This is far more advanced than this world can offer," the man adjusted his aim and pointed at Gato's subordinate. "I want the truth, or he dies."

Gato's security guard tried to jump out and tackle G to the ground, but a laser beam blasted through his skull in an instant. His eyes went lifeless and he tumbled down to the ground at G's feet. G wasted no time putting a few more blasts into the man's head to ensure he was dead. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, nearly covering G's clothing, but he remained calm. He flicked a few pieces of brain from his shirt and then he re-aimed the gun at Gato.

Gato stumbled backwards, his mouth hanging open as he watched in awe. He had done business with G before, but never expected G to turn on him. The man threw his hands in the air, "I'm just the middleman!" Gato admitted as he backed away from G and smacked his back against a tree, falling to the ground. "This guy gives me the product and I sell it. He gets a part of the profit and I get some of it for free to use on my own."

"What does this man look like?" G took a few steps forward and pressed his foot down on Gato, his gun still properly aimed.

"He's not a man, he's an alien," Gato admitted honestly. He was extremely scared of G at the moment, realizing the threat of him dying was very real. "He's an average height person with pale white skin, and long white hair tied into a ponytail. He carries a long sword on his back."

"What's his name?" G pressed on with a furrowed brow.

"Sen," Gato informed him, "I can't tell you anymore, it would be bad business." He was breathing heavily, even after giving G the information he wanted. The man didn't move at all, the gun still aimed right between Gato's eyes. He looked to the side for a moment, moving his body ever so slightly so he could try to run away, but G adjusted his aim quickly and took notice of what Gato was trying to pull.

The mob boss backed even further against the tree and kept his hands in the air.

G lowered the gun and helped Gato off of the ground, pulling him up with ease. He saw no reason to kill him now, "I understand," He turned his back on the man to return the gun back into the crate it came from. G knew Gato was too scared to try anything after he had killed his subordinate, "Sorry about your loss by the way."

"It's alright, I guess. Grunts come and go," Gato waved it off. He was scared out of his mind, but it was better his subordinate than him being dead. Gato started wiping away dirt, grime, blood, and brain matter from his suit.

"I'll pay you the money in full," G withdrew the scroll from earlier, "But I have one request along with it."

Gato started to walk up to G with a smile on his face, "What is that?"

G held the scroll out toward Gato, "I want all of your weapons."

Gato gasped, "Have you lost your fucking mind?" He stared at the scroll though, intrigued by the amount of money that was sealed within. Gato grit his teeth while looking at it, placing his hand on the scroll. "That would set me back a great deal!"

"Losing your life would as well," G calmly threatened Gato. "Even without the gun, I can handle you quickly."

The man in the suit sighed as he took the scroll from G and folded his arms, "You're pretty convincing, Genji."

"I've been told."

. . .

(Nami no Kuni)

Naruto jumped down and landed in front of a small house, Kakashi appeared after Naruto. The boy immediately ran inside but stopped in his tracks once he entered. The whole house had been destroyed, tables overturned, and almost everything had been ripped apart.

What made Naruto freeze in the doorway was the lifeless body of a young boy lying on the ground, covered in blood. The shinobi drew his katana quickly and let his eyes scan around the room. His jaw nearly dropped when he saw the boy's mother laying on the ground as well with a slash across her back.

Kakashi entered after Naruto, kunai already drawn. He looked down on the boy, "I'm going to head to the bridge to make sure Tazuna-san is alright, you find Sakura, and whoever did this." The two nodded to each other before Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto slowly walked into the house, going to the young boy first, and crouching down. With his free hand, he helped him off of the ground and leaned him up against the wall. Luckily the boy wasn't dead, but he was barely conscious, "Inari!" Naruto smacked the boy's face gently trying to get him to respond.

"N-Naruto," He said in between a few ragged breaths. The boy mustered up enough energy to point toward the back of the house, "ANBU did this."

The blonde's head swiveled quickly when he looked in the direction Inari pointed him in, "ANBU? Why would the ANBU do this!?" He jumped up, "I'm going to help your mom, stay put, okay? I'm going to fix this."

Naruto ran to Inari's mother and did the same thing for her, leaning her up against the wall. "Tsunami-san, where's Sakura?" The woman needed a moment to regain composure. She was no where near Inari's condition, but the deep slash across her back was no minor injury.

"She went to fight off the assailant," Tsunami recalled, taking another deep breath as she remembered it all. "It wasn't a regular Kirigakure ANBU, don't be misled. I think they were heading toward the bridge, Naruto-kun."

The boy was rapidly nodding his head as he took in the information. He stood up, "I'll be back with Sakura-chan before you know it, in the mean time, take this," Naruto took out some of his personal medical equipment and handed it over to her. "You'll be fine, right?"

"Dammit, Naruto, just go!" Tsunami screamed out, hugging the equipment to her chest.

Naruto ran off in the direction of the bridge to find Sakura and the intruder. His eyes were looking around frantically trying to find who he was searching for. Tsunami and Inari had both pointed him in the direction of the bridge under construction, and it only made sense. Gato and his thugs had been hunting Tazuna down since their mission had begun.

As he ran, he heard the sound of metal clanking everywhere, and a loud screamed from a girl. It broke his focus, but it definitely sounded familiar. The boy stopped in his tracks, turning his head to the direction of the scream. It was leading away from the construction site, but it sounded too much like Sakura for him to ignore.

The boy took off running once again, completely turning around and heading for the forest. Once he was approaching the forest floor, he took to traveling by tree; jumping from branch to branch. The sound of a fierce battle getting closer to him as he moved deeper into the forest.

His katana was still drawn when he approached the scene, but it had reached its climax once he arrived. Naruto stopped on tree branch, watching the rest of it play out.

Sakura's arm was covered in blood, it being fully thrusted through the 'ANBU' member's chester. His green haori was stained in blood, and Sakura violently ripped her hand out of the man's chest. He stumbled backwards a few steps before falling to the ground lifelessly, and Sakura dropped to her knees.

The girl was taking deep breaths, dropping the blood-stained kunai she used to kill her enemy with. She looked at her hands, which her covered in blood and let a ghost of a smile creep over her face, before brushing her hair behind her ears and letting out a sigh of relief, "Finally," she said to herself.

Naruto was in complete awe, never seeing Sakura hold her own before. He always thought she was the weak-link in the group, and she was starting to prove herself. The boy smiled and leaped down from the tree to congratulate his teammate, "Sakura-chan!"

The pink haired girl looked up with a surprised expression, "Naruto-kun?" She looked him over and he seemed perfectly fine, "What the hell is going on!?" Sakura punched her fist against the ground.

"Gato's goons are after us, they found us spying on them," Naruto admitted as he held his hand out to help Sakura up, and she accepted as he pulled her off of the ground. "I've gotta get to the bridge and help Kakashi-sensei out, please go help Tsunami and Inari!"

Sakura smiled and nodded at Naruto, "Okay, Naruto-kun, good luck." The girl looked at Naruto one last time, the two of them locking eyes before she walked off.

That moment replayed in Naruto's head a few times, each time he was trying to notice something different about it. Everything about it felt off, and he finally realized what it was. When he and her had locked eyes, they weren't the familiar green orbs he had been used to, but blue eyes similar to his.

"Is this is a ge-" Naruto's sentence was ended by a sword driving through his chest with ease, and him dropping down to his knees.

"You were correct, but it's too late now," Haku stood over Naruto's body with a blank expression on his face. His mask had long since been broken during his actual fight with Sakura, she was also lying unconscious in front of Naruto. He pulled the sword out from Naruto's back and hoisted it over his shoulder, "I'm sorry it had to be this way, Naruto." A genuine frown crossed his face.

"F-Fuck you," He muttered as he looked up at Sakura's unconscious body. The boy grit his teeth in anger and tried to crawl closer to the girl, "You're going to pay for this!"

"You two will be completely fine," Haku stabbed the Senju sword into the ground and walked up to Naruto's side. "I see no reason to kill you, but at the moment you stand in the way of my mission." He pressed his foot against Naruto's back to keep him from moving, "I can't let you go any further, Naruto-kun."

. . .

(Tazuna's Bridge)

Tazuna commanded a few workers to move some equipment while he drew up the rest of the schedule for the day. He had a wide smile on his face, knowing he could work in peace while the brooding Uchiha boy watched over the construction, as well his his sensei from time to time. His work days had been going smoothly.

One of his workers walked up to him looking exhausted, sweat rolling down the side of his face, "Boss, when can we catch a break?" He asked with a frown on his face. The man understood how important the bridge was, but every man had his limits.

Tazuna patted his worker on the back and smiled, "Another hour and you can go home for the day, okay? The next shift is coming soon." He shooed the man away with a wave of his hand and continued to work as he was.

The man continued on with his work as told, and the bridge builder himself joined his men and things continued to go as normal. They laughed and shared stories in the short amount of time, but it was all cut short when an uncomfortable mist settled over the bridge, and it was extremely hard to see through.

"Nobody move," Zabuza's voice echoed throughout the area and startled all of the workers. One man tried to make a run for it immediately and dropped to the ground, his throat being slit by the swordsman. "Anybody else want to run?"

The bridge builder whispered under his breath, "Everyone stay calm, we're going to be fi-" Tazuna's throat was leaking blood at an extreme rate, and he was the next man to drop down to the ground and die in the thick mist. His voice suddenly being cut off worried his workers to no end, and they all began to panic, running amongst the mist for Zabuza to easily strike down.

It took less than a minute, and Zabuza had piled up all of their bodies on top of each other. Once he confirmed every worker and Tazuna was dead, he let the mist clear, and revealed himself to be the killer. He strapped up Kubikiribōchō once more and took a moment to revel in his work, "That was too easy." The demon of the hidden mist laughed to himself.

" **Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu** (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique)!" Two geysers of water shot out from each side of the bridge and rained down on Zabuza, intending to crush him, but he was too fast to be caught by something so simple. He evaded the attack by flipping backward, redrawing Kubikiribōchō in an instant.

Zabuza groaned when he saw that the pile of dead bodies he had proudly created had disappeared into thin air. He had been trapped in a genjutsu, "Fuck me," He mumbled to himself as he held his sword outward once Sasuke appeared right before him, already flying through hand seals.

The boy took a deep breath before exhaling a large ball of fire at such short range. He was trying to keep Tazuna's bridge in mind, but he was currently fighting one of the most dangerous men in Nami no Kuni, and wouldn't waste time trying to hold back, " **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" The hunter-nin was quick on his feet, slicing his sword downward and splitting the fire ball in half with ease, but it still exploded outward.

Sasuke quickly flipped backwards, as Kakashi landed right behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the man and visibly frowned, "Your water technique did nothing."

"I could say the same about your fire," He retorted with a slight eye-smile. Their 'joking' was ended by Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō nearly splitting the two of them in half. They both jumped in the opposite direction to avoid the attack, and the swordsman didn't appear to be happy, most of his outfit being singed by the jutsu unleashed by Sasuke.

Kakashi was the first to engage Zabuza with swift and precise strikes from a kunai knife, but the swordsman met each strike with a parry from his broad blade. Sasuke moved in afterward to cover Kakashi's weak spots and the two were making a formidable team. Zabuza was forced to break away from the close range combat, realizing it wasn't the smartest move.

'I need to split them up,' Zabuza thought to himself, while he watched Kakashi and Sasuke attempt to close in on him like before. He lifted his sword into the air and slammed it down. A wave of water flew from the edge of his blade and split the two from each other like he wanted.

Sasuke jumped up and away, spinning in mid air to get the perfect landing. He leapt off of his foot and shot toward Zabuza quicker than Kakashi had. The boy drew a few shuriken and threw them at the man, and he easily blocked it with Kubikiribōchō. Sasuke quickly withdrew a kunai, using the opening he created to really get in close quarters with Zabuza.

He tried to stab Zabuza in the stomach, but the man overpowered Sasuke, grabbing him by his neck and lifting him off of the ground. The hunter-nin brought him up to eye level and smiled, "You thought something that simple would beat me?"

"Of course not," Sasuke smirked as he dropped his kunai to the ground. His smirk was wiped off of his face once Zabuza started choking him to death, but he was more than relieved once he heard the sounds of birds chirping in the background. He barely managed to choke out any words, "I was just the decoy."

. . .

(Nami no Kuni)

Gato led G back to Nami no Kuni, on the outskirts of the island where his warehouse was located. He wore a frown the whole way there, knowing that he would have to hand over his entire stock of weapons or else he would die. Both options weren't very lucrative to him, but there weren't any more for him to choose.

His warehouse was very discreet, and didn't need to be heavily guarded, or else it had a bigger chance of being discovered. Gato knew that G was no weakling, and could probably handle any low-life grunt that he threw at him, so he was truly in a bind.

As they approached the warehouse he grit his teeth, "You don't talk much, do you?" He looked back at G with an eerie smile on his face. The man placed his hand on a touch pad the door to the warehouse unlocked.

"I don't like to ramble," G admitted as he walked into the warehouse behind Gato. He took in all of the sights it had to offer, and was quietly enjoying the military equipment that was being held in secret. There were bigger guns, more powerful scouters, and a few things he had never seen before.

"I guess I can't complain about that," Gato shrugged his shoulders, quickly replacing his broken scouter with another model. This pair looking more like goggles instead of a monocle, and numbers popped onto the lenses immediately. "Feel free to look around, Genji-sama!"

G nodded, doing as he pleased, and walking through the hidden factory. There were very few workers there, so he wasn't worried in the slightest. If Gato wanted him dead, he would have been the moment he entered the building, so for now he would take his own personal tour.

He almost felt like a kid again, tracing his hand over foreign objects. G stopped to look at a large cannon, and Gato walked up behind him. "How much would you sell this for?"

"A million ryo, easy," He said as he ran his hand over the shiny alien cannon. "What exactly do you want?" Gato asked, willing to reason with G in order to keep as many of his weapons as he could.

"All of this won't be necessary," G said as he placed his hands behind his back and kept walking through the factory. "I needed strength in arms, and a few more of the items I already purchased should be fine."

"Why are you buying all of this shit in the first place?" Gato questioned as he followed G through the factory. "With the money you're putting out, it seems like you're trying to start a war!" The mob boss laughed loudly and made G turn around and give him a blank stare.

"I'd rather not say," G folded his arms and slightly smiled at Gato. "It would be bad business."

"Hm, I can respect that!" Gato let out another hearty laugh, while he discreetly pressed his finger against the arm of his scouter, kanji, and numbers popping up on the lense. G took notice but thought nothing of it, not being able to read what was on the lense.

Gato ended up watching G pace through the factory for thirty more minutes, while he sat calmly and watched with his arms folded. The man followed G's every movement all the way up until he came and sat with him.

"Prepare everything for me," G looked at Gato with his usual blank expression. He would continue to stare at Gato until he said something in response or at least snapped his finger to command one of the few workers present to being carrying out his request.

The boss was more than hesitant to make anything final, and bit his lip out of anger. G had taken advantage of the man that had given him his first gun in less than a minute. He looked at the man and nearly cursed, but he held his composure, and simply snapped his finger.

"Thank you," G said plainly as he turned his head slightly to watch the single worker begin packing the items G had requested.

"No, Genji, thank you for doing business with me!" Gato clapped his hands together, but G wasn't even paying attention to Gato. The moment the man clapped, the door to the factory swung open and G had his eyes locked on the newcomer ever since.

He had long white hair tied into a ponytail, pale skin, and he was wearing a sword that was strapped to his back. It was a near perfect description, with a minor detail being left out. The man's long tail dragged across the floor as he approached the two of them.

G furrowed his brow as he looked at Gato, "You didn't tell me there would be guests."

"Huh?" Gato's head swiveled around his eyes widened when he saw the man that was approaching the table. "Sen?"

. . .

Next Chapter: _Brain Matter_


	11. Brain Matter

**BRAIN MATTER**

"I apologize," Sen bowed respectfully toward G, letting a smile grace his face. The alien walked up a set of stairs to the table and stood over the two men. "I needed to see Gato, an important matter came up." The man spoke with a thick accent that wasn't relative to any country.

G simply nodded his head and looked off to the side. He had his eyes on the workers down below mulling about the building while the three superiors talked, "So you're the arms dealer?" His eyes snapped back to Sen and he looked him over, still getting used to the tail that wagged back and forth.

"Yes, I supply Gato here with everything he needs," Sen smiled and looked at Gato, patting the man on the head like a pet. "I don't think a regular human could handle my presence, but Gato-kun is special." The alien didn't pay the irritated groan that came from his words any mind, still grinning at the old mob boss.

Normally Gato would have a person like Sen killed, but out of fear and respect; he let the alien talk how he wanted, "Yes, he chose me to run his underground business, I'm guessing he couldn't find a better candidate." Sen's hand was still placed firmly on his head, and Gato simply looked up at with a frown.

"I see," G watched their interactions with interest. It seemed like Sen had control over Gato to extent, and there was nothing the man could do about. The man looked over Sen's appearance once more, eyes locking onto his tail. "Where exactly are you from, Sen?" He looked up at him with a blank stare.

"I didn't come here to discuss that," Sen grinned cheekily at G and moved his hand from Gato's head to wag his finger. "I think our relationship should be strictly business, I have no interest in getting to know you."

Gato laughed at Sen and G's conversation before sticking his head into himself, "Sen, please, Genji-sama has been my number one customer for years," His smile disappeared though. "This is, however, our first time meeting in person. Something so sensitive couldn't transferred by grunts and inspected by normal shinobi."

Sen eyes shifted from Gato to G, his smile fading, "And that's exactly why I'm here, Gato-kun, I got your distress call." The alien and G locked eyes a few moments after he said that, the man immedieately realizing what he was hinting at. "This kind of advanced technology can only be released in incraments, and G-kun you're threating the balance of this world. My goal was to advance this world slowly, not destroy it."

G grit his teeth, and Sen instantly had his hand on the handle of his blade. His quickly drew it and slashed toward G, Gato ducking his head. G had drawn his weapon of choice just as quickly and blasted a beam of energy right through Sen's right bicep, but the moment he did that; his right arm had been cut clean off.

Blood splattered everywhere, from both G and Sen, and spilled all over Gato. Sen yelled out in pain before thrusting his arm outward, as it literally extended in length, and grabbed G by the throat. He threw him from the platform they were on and into a large crate, his arm retracting to normal size, as he leapt off of the platform to continue engaging G.

Gato was breathing heavily, trying to wipe the blood off of his favorite suit. His eyes moved to the battle, as numbers flew across the lense of his scouter. The scouter could barely keep up with the rate the two fighters were letting their power release.

The black haired man pushed himself off of the ground, and out of the debris from the broken crate that was full of miscellaneous weapons. There were multiple splinters stuck in his skin, but that was the least of his worries. He formed a single hand seal, taking a deep breath, as he released a large ball of fire that engulfed everything in front of him.

Sen furrowed his brow, a yellow aura covering his body. He shot forward with amazing speed, flying right through the ball of fire. The man thrust his arm forward, and it rapidly extended with his sword in grip. It shot out at G, but the man was quick on his feet. The man held his palm out, covering it in chakra, before converting it to wind chakra, and shooting it out at Sen. It grew in size, and threw off the direction of the sword.

Even Sen was thrown back violently into the wall of the factory from the strength of G's wind technique. Human or not, he knew he couldn't hold back or else G would take his life. Once he had come to a stand still, the hole on his chest began to restitch itself back to its previous state.

G's eyes twitched when he saw the alien's body regenerating after being shot, "Definitely not human." He said to himself, leaping backward, and then running to hide after another large crate while he formed a plan. G knew his time would be limited, so he looked around for a weapon that could give him an advantage. His eye was caught by Gato, who was trying to flee from the factory.

The man was about to act on it, but the crate he was hiding behind was smashed by the impact of Sen crash landing at a high speed right before him. The alien was once again trying to slash him to death, but the man leapt to the ground, and grabbed a gun that was abandoned by one of the workers who had just run off.

He narrowed his eyes, focusing on Gato quickly and fired off a few shots. His attention was brought back to Sen once the man tried to smash the blade through his skull, but he rolled out of the way. The man focused his aim on Sen quickly and fired off another fast shot.

G nearly smiled when he saw Sen freeze in place, a newly formed hole appearing in the middle of his forehead. Blood slowly leaked down his face, and his bright yellow eyes went pupil-less. He had intentionally aimed for the alien's brain, so he could shut him down without having to worry about him surviving.

The only thing that bothered him was the fact Sen hadn't fallen over and died yet.

. . .

(Nami No Kuni)

Another thick mist settled over the bridge once again, Zabuza not being the caster this time. He furrowed his brow, keeping his guard up, as he looked around worriedly. His eyes were sharp, and he saw every slight movement from one of his enemies. They were moving in a zig zag pattern, and a quick slash from a kunai was blocked by kubikiribocho. He pushed the attacker away and began weaving through the mist as if it were his own.

He defended himself against a few more precisely thrown kunai and shuriken, all of them flying in different directions. Zabuza rolled across the bridge and ended up using his forearm to block a powerful punch. The man was surprised that the two Konoha shinobi were working with the mist so well, to the point he couldn't tell who was attacking him.

The hunter-nin flipped backward and came to a full stand, holding his sword out to defend himself from their next move. "This mist isn't going to do you any good!" He yelled out and laughed, but it slowly faded when he heard the sound of birds chirping. After fighting Kakashi the first time, he knew what came next, but with the thick mist it was harder to track the man's movements.

It took an extreme focus of his eyes to see small glints of blue light moving in an untraceable pattern, but it was definitely coming for him. Kakashi had gotten quicker since their fight had begun, and the lightning blade smashed into his own. The two shinobi met eyes, and Zabuza was surprisingly being pushed back by Kakashi's sheer strength, "Can't see through your own mist?" Kakashi questioned with a smirk.

"Ye-" Zabuza's response was cut short after being tackled by Sasuke, who came in like a speeding bullet. They both flew right off of the bridge and into the body of water right under it. Sasuke didn't plan on letting go until they were deep.

The mist on the bridge began to fall and Kakashi jumped onto the ledge of the bridge. He looked down at the water with extreme interest, "I never taught Sasuke how to water walk, I hope he's a quick learner." The copy-nin slowly went through hand seals, holding his fingers on the last seal. " **Raiton: Inazuma** (Lightning Release: Lightning Bolt)." The man held his open palms outward and began concentrating lightning chakra and natural electricity in the air.

Kakashi and Sasuke had a plan, and the boy had a certain amount of time to be in the water before he got electrocuted along with Zabuza. It would be unfortunate, but he only had so much control over his technique before it overpowered itself and struck everything.

The man's head snapped upward when he saw Sasuke sent flying out of the water. The water itself began to bubble and a dragon made from the water shot out after Sasuke, closing its maw on the boy's body, and slamming him into the bridge. His body was bloody and battered after his brief bout with the Demon of The Mist, and was close to falling unconscious.

That was Kakashi's cue, raising his hands to the sky and focusing his energy even more. Before him, in the center of the air, was a very large, crackling bolt of lightning that was getting harder to control by the second. The man had shaped his chakra like a spike, but the longer he tried to control it, the more ragged it became, and it kept branching out.

No longer holding it back, he thrust his hands down, and the bolt of lightning followed his lead. It shot down at speeds neither Kakashi or Zabuza could keep up with, and even Kakashi's face cringed when he heard the loud scream of pain from Zabuza under the water. The bolt crashing down was followed by a blinding light that swallowed the immedieate area, Kakashi covering his eyes since he was so close.

When everything settled, the water was still crackling with electricity, and Zabuza's life energy was close to nonexistent.

Kakashi's attention was brought to Sasuke, who, like Zabuza, was hanging on by a thread. The man leaped from the ledge of the bridge over to his student, who was laying in a pool of his own blood. A deep slash from kubikiribocho was across his torso, but Kakashi didn't panic, "Sasuke, don't worry. You'll be treated soon."

He was completely still, and a cold feeling ran up his spine. The man turned his head and watched as an even thicker mist from before engulfed the bridge. Kakashi jumped up and drew a kunai to defend himself and Sasuke.

" **Kubikiribocho: Jigoku!** " Zabuza's voice was the first thing that appeared to Kakashi, and then the crazed man himself was seen flying down toward him with his sword over his head. A black chakra became visible that swallowed him and the blade, "You thought it was that easy!?" The man had a crazy smile plastered on his face, his body badly burnt, and his mask had been destroyed. There was a gaping hole in his stomach, leaking blood rapidly, and his kubikiribocho was broken in half. His razor sharp teeth were shown when he smiled, "This is why they really call me the _DEMON_ of the mist!"

The ex-kirigakure shinobi slammed his sword against the ground, and a powerful wave of demonic-like chakra was released from the tip and tore through the mist at amazing speed. Kakashi's eyes were constantly switching between Sasuke and the blast of raw chakra coming straight at him. His speed wasn't great enough to dodge the blast and grab Sasuke like he wanted to, so he had to directly deal with it.

All of this was happening in an instant, he held his kunai out and groaned silently. His single sharingan eye morphed from the three tomoe seal, to a pinwheel, and it spun a few times, as he concentrated quickly.

. . .

(Nami no Kuni)

Naruto was leaping from tree to tree with Sakura thrown over his shoulder. He was being chased by Haku, and he was trying to get back to the bridge. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he felt Haku's presence quickly approaching him. He flipped forward and landed on the ground with ease, looking around, and leaping behind a tree.

The boy did his best to mask his and Sakura's chakra, and went completely still when he saw Haku walk into the open clearing. A wave of cold air was followed by Haku's entrance, and a chill ran up Naruto's spine. The kiri-nin was looking around slowly, trying to feel out the area for the genin's presence, but he got nothing.

The konoha-genin used the moment to his advantage, gently placing Sakura onto the ground. He made a cross with his fingers to perform his signature clone technique, which would instantly give away his location. The clone grabbed Sakura and took off in the direction of Tazuna's bridge.

Haku's head snapped in that direction, and immediately formed mulitple senbon made of ice that went right through the tree, forcing Naruto to duck down to the ground. Haku saw the boy run out from behind the tree with his sword drawn, and charged right him. Naruto swung his sword recklessly, trying to tear Haku apart limb by limb, while the kiri-nin dodged each stab easily.

Their fighting styles contrasted very differently, Naruto being more of a brute, and Haku thought out his every move. Haku could see it in the boy's movements and attacks, he was barely trained, and there was no true skill in any area of his fighting. The masked shinobi moved out of the way of another lethal stab and finally decided to counter, kneeing Naruto in the gut, and disarming by ripping the sword from his hands.

The boy fell over and Haku stabbed the sword into the ground next to Naruto's head, "I don't want to kill you, Naruto-kun," Haku admitted as he stood over Naruto, "but you stand between me and Zabuza-sama, and for that reason I cannot hold back." Haku held his hand out, and ice began to form out of thin air. It started to shape into a razor sharp katana, which he held above Naruto's head.

"I can't let you get to Zabuza, that would mean I lost!" Naruto held his head up and formed a cross seal, and clones began to fill the area, trying to pounce on Haku the moment they appeared. This was enough for Naruto to jump up and grab his own katana out of the ground, making himself the obvious original. None of his clones had spawned with their own weapon, so Haku was disposing them quickly.

The masked teenager was slicing through Naruto's crowd of clones easily, and as the numbers wittled down; the real Naruto came weaving through the clones. The genin leapt into the air and tried to slash down on Haku, but he parried the slash with his own blade, which was surprisingly sturdy. It didn't even crack when Naruto added more pressure into their power struggle.

Haku pushed Naruto away, and he leaped backward to put even more distance between them. He held out the katana that he forged from ice and smirked behind his mask, "Since you want to fight like a swordsman," He twisted the blade in his hand, and formed a seal of confrontation with his other hand, "I suppose it's only right you die like one as well."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, "Wha?"

The already cold temperature around him dropped drastically, as a light mist settled over the area. Naruto was immediately on the defensive, watching in awe as thin coats of frost started to cover the environment. The greenery of the forest was slowly transitioning to a snow white, and flakes of snow had even started to fall over the area.

The sudden climate change had Naruto's teeth chattering, goosebumps forming on his skin, and each time he took a breath; he saw it when he exhaled. The boy tried to focus on Haku's body, but it slowly faded into the mist, and the only thing he could indentify with was the boy's voice resonating through the area.

"Prepare yourself, Naruto-kun," Haku had been moving wistfully through the cloudy area he had created on a whim. After giving Naruto a fair warning, he immediately moved, silently slashing at Naruto. The boy had no idea where to look, being cut all over his body at high speeds, and when Haku went to move in once more; the boy's awareness had gotten much better in a short time.

While Naruto had come off as an idiot rookie to Haku, he was something of a quick learner. His skills sharpened faster than anyone he had seen. Once he tried to move in for another attack, Naruto had gotten used to his pattern, and stabbed outward. The attack nearly went through his neck, but Haku flipped backward, and kicked Naruto's sword up into the air.

Naruto instantly formed a clone, and threw it up into the air to catch his sword. Once the clone had caught the sword, he transformed in mid air, and turned into a katana. The original Naruto grabbed both of the weapons and got into a fighting stance. He couldn't see Haku's body through the mist, so he waited for the teen to make another move.

Their was a slight standoff, but eventually Haku ripped through the mist at break neck speeds and tried to slash across Naruto's torso, but the boy blocked the strike with one of his katanas, and slashed at Haku's shoulder with the other. Naruto smirked, knowing he had drawn blood.

Haku was wide eyed, finding out what had happened to Naruto's clone in the worst way. The original Naruto used this moment to his advantage and stabbed both of blades forward, and connected with Haku's ribcage. Haku barely winced, and grabbed onto Naruto's arm with his free hand, "You're an unorthodox shinobi, Naruto-kun." He smiled at the boy, and raised his sword into the air.

"I'm not the kinda guy to play by the rules," Naruto smiled cheekily, thinking that victory was his, but his smile began to slowly fade.

Thousands of needles made from ice were beginning to form in the air around them. They were all pointed at Naruto and that made him more than uncomfortable, "Being stabbed is a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things," The masked shinobi took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Narut-" All of the senbon made from ice fell limply to the ground and Haku's head swiveled in the direction of Tazuna's bridge.

With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Haku disappeared from Naruto's sight, and left him standing in the newly formed snowing forest in Nami no Kuni.

. . .

(Tazuna's Bridge)

The bridge under construction would be close to being destroyed after the fight between Kakashi, Sasuke, and Zabuza concluded. Only two fighters remained, bothing of them breathing heavily, and had completely battered bodies. Zabuza being the worse off of the two.

Kakashi eye's was still in the shape of a pinwheel, and it slowly leaked blood due to the overuse of it. His torso had a deep gash from Zabuza's 'Jigoku' technique across it, and he was running strictly off of adrenaline, otherwise he would have fallen out to the ground. His flak jacket was completely destroyed, and his wound was being exposed to the open air. He was taking ragged breaths, "Come at me with everything you have, Zabuza."

Zabuza gripped the handle of kubikiribocho tightly, "Your body should be split in half!" He complained out loud as he focused his eyes on Kakashi fully, "I won't let you leave here, you're a dead man!" His blade was still broken in half, using it to deflect Kakashi's lightning technique earlier, and it was barely successful, since he still had the major burns to prove it.

The Konoha Jounin drew a single kunai and prepared himself for Zabuza. He had nothing to say to him at this point, just wanting to end the battle, and continue on with his life.

The mercenary was highly frustrated and took off in running Kakashi's direction, and Kakashi did the same. The two met in the middle of the bridge, Zabuza crouching low and stabbing straight through Kakashi's stomach, while Kakashi himself stabbed down into Zabuza's forehead. The man cringed lightly when blood splattered onto his face, and watched as the 'Demon of The Mist' eyes went lifeless.

He could barely stand at that point, falling over next to the dead body of Zabuza. The two were laying adjacent to each other, and Kakashi had yet to pass out.

"ZABUZA!" Haku appeared on the bridge running straight to the man's corpse and nearly fell over from the shock. His eyes locked onto the copy ninja laying next to him, with Kubikiribocho stabbed through his gut. The teenager reached over and ripped the blade from his back, getting a scream of pain in response.

Kakashi looked up at Haku with a blank stare, noticing Naruto's sword embedded into his ribcage, and the boy seemed more worried about Zabuza than anything else, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Kakashi offered, "but you as a shinobi knows that I couldn't let him interfere with my mission."

Haku raised Kubikiribocho into the air, as it slowly regenerated after absorbing the iron from Kakashi's blood. His mask had fallen down to the ground, revealing his soft features, which had tensed up, and his brown eyes were staring a hole through Kakashi. "I should kill you, copy-ninja," Haku grit his teeth as a tear rolled down his face, "But I can't."

The weakened copy ninja was in utter shock, nearly expecting his death after Haku had appeared, "W-Why?"

"Zabuza and I have been working tirelessly under Gato for so long, I know deep down this is what he truly wanted," Haku lowered the famous blade and looked at it deeply. "He desired freedom more than anything else, and he deserved it."

Zabuza's former team mate kneeled down and shut the man's eyes, so he could rest peacefully.

. . .

(Tsuchi No Kuni)

Goku was sitting on a slab of a large rock, quietly meditating with his sensei. He opened his eyes and took in the sight, after he and K had climbed a large mountain for this exact feeling.

The duo was right outside of Iwagakure, looking at the large village from the top of the mountain, his their bodies being completely relaxed. Everything about was cool, but Goku didn't see the importance of what K called 'spiritual training,' looking over at his sensei who had his eyes still shut.

"Sensei, this type of stuff feels good and everything, but you still haven't taught me one real jutsu yet," Goku complained, closing his eyes once again when he felt K's eye lids open and lock onto him. He had broken the man's meditation, and it was one of the worst things he could possibly do. "Like I said, it's cool, but come on. How can I kill somebody by meditating?"

The natural feeling K had been searching for when he climbed this mountain had nearly been destroyed by Goku's complaints. He was expecting to feel at ease, but now he felt the need to lecture Goku about what made their trip so important, "A big part of chakra control is a sound mind," K explained, closing his eyes once more and taking a deep breath. "I'm not doing this for leisure."

"All you do is come up here take deep breaths," Goku unintentionally insulted K's routines, shutting his lips when K's cold aura nearly made him shiver.

"Don't be foolish, Goku," K hissed quietly.

"But maybe it is important," Goku smiled, his eyes still closed as the two continued to meditate.

He would be glad when they could finally go inside Iwagakure.

. . .

 _Just like that, the filler is over, and we're back with Goku. I don't feel like I did the Haku and Zabuza fights justice, but it'll make things better later on._ Next Chapter: _Old Man Onoki_


	12. Old Man Onoki

**OLD MAN ONOKI ~ 12**

The journey from the top of the mountain, down to Iwagakure had taken the duo hours to complete. K was used to this amount of traveling, but Goku was new to this type of lifestyle. After walking for days, adding on these last few hours had exhausted the boy to no end, and he could barely stay up to do so.

As much as K hated treating Goku like a child, he still was, and he had no time to waste. He was carrying Goku piggy-back style all the way up to the gates of Iwagakure. Each time the body twisted and turned his body while he slept, K let out a silent groan, but luckily for him the gates were getting closer with each step.

It was early in the morning, and the citizens of Iwagakure were just now waking up. The working citizens and shinobi were coming in and out of the gate that led into the village. With him and Goku being foreigners, they had to be screened before they could even step foot into the hidden village. The black haired jounin walked up to the gate, a slight frown appearing on his face.

There was nothing he hated more than trying to gain entrance into a foreign village. He nodded toward one of the gatekeepers, who was a simple Chunin with glasses. The man grit his teeth, getting a questionable look from the keeper, before he pushed up his glasses, and opened his mouth. K's blank stare turned into a cold one when the keeper prepared to talk, and he promptly shut his mouth, "We're here from Kumogakure to meet with the Tsuchikage."

Sweat rolled down the keeper's face while K stared at him, the man's gaze never shifting away from, despite all of the distractions coming in and out of the village. He awkwardly smiled, "I still need you to fill out these forms," The young chunin pushed forward two stacks of paper for the visitors.

". . ."

Two pens were placed neatly on top of the stack of papers, and the keeper offered K an actual smile this time.

The Kumogakure Jounin dropped his Genin onto the ground with no remorse and picked up the pen that sat on top of his papers, "Don't be foolish, Goku," He looked down on the Genin who had just gone through a rude awakening. Despite the menacing scowl he was getting from the boy, he didn't seem to care. "You have to work to do."

"WORK!?" Goku groaned as he stood up and looked at the keeper. He silently stuck his tongue out at him, "What am I supposed to be doing?"

"Fill out these forms," K and the gatekeeper said at the same time. They looked at each other, K furrowing his brow, which was followed by the keeper looking away quickly to end the awkward moment.

Goku picked up the pen and stared at it blankly, "Why the hell am I filling out forms?" He raised a brow and shifted his attention to K, and then the keeper. "I'm here on an important mission, what more do I need to tell you?"

"That's not enough information to gain entry into Iwagakure," K and the gatekeeper had done it again, speaking to Goku at the same time. The Jounin shot another glance at the young man working the gate, and he was sweating profusely; trying hard not to make eye contact with K.

K eyes were locked onto the keeper, his blank stare not twitching once. His voice sent a chill crawling up the young man's spine, "I don't need help," Every time he tried to talk to Goku, the keeper's voice traced along his, and he didn't enjoy the sound of it at all. "Please don't speak unless spoken to."

"I'm sorry, I won't interrupt you and your son again," The gatekeeper had an eerie smile on his face. Not only did K glare at him, but Goku gave the man his own frustrated expression. The keeper pulled on his collar and awkwardly looked away from the black haired duo. They looked like each other, Goku even having a small upward ponytail like K, which he thought he did out of admiration.

"There's no way me and this emotionless-goof could be related," Goku playfully smacked K on his back, but didn't get any response from the man. Not even a bone-chilling blank stare that he usually got, and Goku chose to slowly retract his hand before turning to his stack of papers. Maybe he had crossed the line?

K was quickly going through the standard entrance forms issued to him by Iwagakure. It asked basic questions that he filled in with equally simple answers, while Goku's eyes trailed upward to his sensei. He was struggling to answer half of the things on the paper, aside from personal information.

He originally looked to K for answers, but he didn't want to ask the irritated man any questions. The boy filled in the rest of the entrance forms with random answers, and pushing it toward the keeper. K finished his with the 'right' answers, pushing it toward the keeper, and setting the pen down on the Gatekeeper's counter.

The keeper himself picked up the forms for K and looked them over, switching his focus between the papers and the Jounin standing before him. He raised a curious brow, "Your name is just _K_?" The man's face twitched slightly while looking at the single kanji written on the form.

"Yes," K's patience was truly being tested between the keeper and Goku. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, "I am K, and this is Son Goku." He watched the keeper go through the set of forms, looking through Goku's now, and a frown appeared on the man's face. K looked down on Goku instantly with a frustrated expression.

"Son Goku, your reason for being in Iwagakure...," The keeper was completely thrown off by the answer. He looked at Goku with a dumbfounded stare, "Is a _badass_ meeting with the _Iwakage_?" There was no way a kid could be this stupid.

". . . Yeah?"

"Amazing," The keeper pushed up his glasses with his free hand. "I'll have these processed immediately. You'll be getting a response in thiry minutes to an hour," Before K or Goku could open their mouth and complain; the keeper placed a small sign on the counter, which read 'closed.' He walked away from the booth fast, being more than happy to leave K and Goku alone.

K's eyes scanned around the area, noticing that they were being watched by multiple shinobi, so they had no choice but to stand there and wait. He looked down on Goku and visibly frowned, "Why must you be so foolish, Goku?"

Goku rolled his eyes and yawned, "I'm just being myself," the boy said as he rested his hands behind his head.

"That's a shame."

The two shinobi were left standing outside the processing booth for up to an hour, before the keeper returned. When he sat back down, he said nothing, and simply pointed toward the gate of the village. Their eyes slowly moved over to the gate, and saw a few men walking through it, but the man that was in front of them caught their attention. K straightened his figure, and Goku simply stared with a smile.

The man that had caught the Kumogakure shinobi's attention was very short in stature. He had his hands behind his back, while his old eyes sized up the two of them with a slight smile. His green coat flowing in the wind, as he literally floated over to the two visitors. When he halted, his guards promptly stopped behind him, and his smile grew even wider, "You must be K," He said, acknowledging the Jounin first, and then looking down on Goku from where he floated, "and you, you must be the young Son Goku I've heard so much about."

K bowed respectfully and looked at Goku from the side of his eye, trying to get him to do the same. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Tsuchikage." He looked over at Goku and mouthed the word 'respect,' but Goku simply smiled at K.

"This old fart is the Tsu-" K shot up and covered Goku's mouth with his hand. He closed his eye lids tight, and took an extremely deep breath. The two of them hadn't even step foot into the village yet, and he was already disrespecting their potential business partner.

The Tsuchikage stroked his long white beard and frowned at Goku, "You brats have no respect for you elders." A grin crossed his face, "They don't call me the strongest man in all Tsuchi no Kuni for no reason."

K had his arm around Goku's shoulder, his usual blank stare on his face. While the others couldn't see it, Goku was pinching his side, and knew he wouldn't stop until he let him go, and stopped covering his mouth. It was an annoying pain, but it was nothing he couldn't cover up, "I apologize for Goku's foolishness," He looked at Goku, "He's still a rookie."

"I understand," The Tsuchikage nodded his head solemnly. He continued to stroke his beard, and twisted his body to gesture toward the large village behind him. His guards mimicked his movements, "You came here for a reason though, and to that I say; welcome to Iwagakure!"

One of the bulky guards shot out a blast of confetti, which landed all over K and Goku. The both of them were far from pleased with this, standing there with blank expressions on their face. If K and Goku hadn't traveled so far and waited so long, they would've turned around and went home.

. . .

(Iwagakure)

There were many people at the entrance of the village, instructed to be there to greet their Kumogakure visitors, and make them feel welcome. Kunoichi around K and Goku's age were screaming out at them like they were celebrities, and the shinobi of the village bowed respectfully when they walked past them.

Goku had a strange smile as he paced through the village behind the Tsuchikage, looking up at K with a confused expression, "K, what the hell is going on?" He whispered quietly. Wild fan-girls were grabbing at his shirt trying to pull him away from K. He wasn't expecting Iwagakure to be anything like this.

"The Tsuchikage is trying to lure us in," K whispered to his student. He knew what the old man was trying to pull, and he wasn't necessarily enjoying it. The man had to slap away a few eager hands from touching him, "We have what he wants." He looked down on Goku, "You have the power here, don't forget that."

The Tsuchikage turned his head and raised a brow, a smile appearing on his face. He heard whispers coming from the two Kumo-shinobi, "I'll be showing you two your living quarters for your stay here Iwagakure." He twisted his body in mid-air and gestured for the two shinobi to follow him into a door-way, his guards filling into it first. "You'll be staying with me in my mansion." He grinned at the two Kumo-shinobi, and they simply blinked at him.

"We're honored," K responded quickly and pushed Goku into the door-way, and the doors slid shut. Once the doors had closed, the small space went pitch black, before it illuminated with blue lights. The space they were standing in was floored with shiny metal tiles, and a pad of numbers next to the door were the next thing to shine.

"Welcome," A computerized, feminine voice spoke through a small intercom. Goku was still staring at everything blankly, while K was doing the same. The Tsuchikage floated up to the number pad and entered a series of numbers, "Identification, please," A screen opened up from the number pad, revealing a front-facing camera that the man looked into. It identified some key features on the man's face and made a chirping noise.

"I can see why you guys don't have any money, building these fancy ass elevators," Goku mumbled lowly under his breath, not even slightly impressed with what he saw, unlike K. The boy could see the small glints of interest in his otherwise dead eyes. His quiet comment had drawn the attention of one of the guards, the Tsuchikage himself not hearing the boy. He smiled back at the burly man and looked away afterward.

The doors slid open and the Tsuchikage was the first to enter the plush room, which was decorated with white furniture. Everything was bright and shiny, and it pleased Goku's eyes. The room was full of statues, well kept flowers, and technology he had never seen before. The boy's eyes lit up as he walked around the room without permission.

The Tsuchikage picked up a newspaper off of the counter and rolled it up. He floated slowly behind Goku and smacked him on his head like a bad dog, "I will give you a proper tour, brat!" He tucked the newspaper under his arm and floated back toward K. He was mumbling under his breath about his hate for the new generation, but masked it with a smile once he was being sized up by Goku's sensei. "Follow me," He said, prompting everyone, including Goku to follow him around the room while he explained the lay out.

There many complicated controls, that unfortunately for the two foreign shinobi, controlled the entire room. K tried to memorize certain strings of commands he was told to use, finding it unnecessary. He needed to press certain buttons to turn on the lights, when he really could have used a light switch.

After the man finished the tour, he smiled at the two guests, "Impressive, right?" They both nodded, not really meaning it. "This is the latest wave in technology, and its all coming right here from Iwagakure. We, however, don't have the money to keep producing it."

"So that's why we're here," K said as he sat down on the comfortable white couch. His eyes drifted to the large bay window, that gave them all a view of the beautiful village.

"Yes, we would love to do business with Kumogakure," The Tsuchikage grinned at K, who wasn't even paying attention to him. "But we can discuss that later, I want you two to get settled in." He floated back toward the elevator that brought them to the room and it opened. His men followed him in and crowded behind him. "Meet me at the Tsuchikage Mansion in an hour, the code to exit is 6059." The elevator doors shut and the room went silent.

Goku had sat down on the couch with K and looked out the window like his sensei, "I don't know about you, but I think he's full of shit," K turned his head at Goku's opinion and stared at him, which prompted to go on since he had the man's attention. "What good is this money going to do for the people, other than making a toilet that makes you type in a code to drop a deuce?"

"That's an excellent observation," K's eyes looked around the room before returning his attention to Goku. "There's always an ulterior motive with Iwagakure, and we were expecting as much," K explained to his student, as he pushed himself off of the couch. "I'll be truthful with you, Goku," The man was looking through the room cautiously.

"What?" He jumped off of the couch and watched his sensei work the room, trying to find something. "What the hell are you looking for?"

"We've been put in the Tsuchikage's personal space," He had finished his inspection and walked up to the boy. "I would expect surveillance of some sort, but there's nothing." K placed his hand on top of Goku's head in a fatherly fashion, "We're here on a reconnaissance mission, Iwagakure has been suspect lately."

"And we plan on funding their suspicions!?" Goku nearly screamed at the top of his lungs but K flicked the boy on the forehead. He immediately put his hands on his forehead to ease the pain and pouted his lip. "This mission is stupid!"

"We're going to make them an offer they can't refuse," K moved Goku's hands away from where he flicked him and patted his forehead gently. He guided the boy back to the couch and sat down with him. "At that point, we'll have them under our thumb."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Goku looked frustrated and confused.

"I've said too much," K said as he got up and walked out of the room, leaving Goku to his own devices.

Goku sat on the couch struggling to put it all together. He didn't understand why Kumogakure would want to do business with a village they had a lot of bad blood with. The boy groaned and shook his head, pushing himself off of the couch and walking up to the elevator.

As long as he wasn't busy, he would go out and see the village. Maybe he could make some sense of it all.

. . .

(Within The Village ~ Iwagakure)

The boy was taking angry foot steps across the bridge that connected the buildings. His face was red in frustration, "I'm tired of that wretched old man telling me what I can and can't do!" He screamed out, but a man placed a hand on his shoulder. His dark eyes shot upward and stared at the bald man. "I suggest you get your hand off of me right now, Nappa, or I will remove it myself."

The man being threatened right now smirked lightly, a bead of sweat forming instantly. He looked down on the boy, being much taller than him, and lacked any hair on his head; only eyebrows and a thin mustache. He was quite muscular, and much more menacing to the eye than the boy, but he still felt threatened, "Prince Vegeta, calm down," Nappa uttered out before he was thrown across the bridge in a small show of the boy's strength.

"I will _not_ calm down," The prince said while walking up Nappa, who had skidded to a halt. He pointed his index finger against Nappa's stomach, since he wasn't tall enough to reach his chest. "That old fart will learn to show respect to the Prince of All Saiyans!"

"He's better than Frieza!" Nappa let out a hearty laugh before folding his arms over his chest. Vegeta's outbursts were nothing new to him, "In due time, we won't have to worry about him. Don't forget why we came to Earth, Vegeta."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and turned his back on Nappa, continuing to walk to across the bridge, "Yes, I do, and where the hell is our third man?" He said, while Nappa fell into step with Vegeta.

"He was sent on a mission with the Tsuchikage's daughter," Nappa looked around, trying to find his energy within the village. "He's not far from here, I don't know what the hell he's doing though."

"Where is he?" Vegeta raised a brow and turned his head to look at Nappa, "He should have linked up with us as soon as he returned!"

"He's north of here, in the restaraunt district," Nappa said in an odd tone. He furrowed his brow and looked in that direction, "I can't believe that fucker is thinking about food right now."

Vegeta shot Nappa a brief glance before jumping right off of the bridge and taking off in flight. A white aura coated his body as he sped through the lower part of the village, so he could avoid being seen by civilians. They would probably freak out seeing someone other than the Tsuchikage flying through their village.

Nappa followed his 'student's' lead and jumped off of the bridge. Sometimes he had to follow behind Vegeta's reckless actions and make sure he didn't get trouble.

The prince was fuming with anger, even more than before. His team a certain plan that they stuck to, and breaking off from the regular regime was a serious offense. They were no normal shinobi, and had no need to go around acting like them.

While he sped through the village, he was honing in on the familiar signature. His partner was sitting in a sushi restaraunt, and Vegeta rose up to the bridge that led to the building. He calmly landed and brushed his burgundy and brown clothing off from the dust he had kicked up flying there, "I hate these damn clothes," Vegeta mumbled to himself, before looking up at the restaraunt.

He stormed into the restaraunt, kicking the door in, rather than opening it like a normal person. Everyone's head in the room swiveled around to the door, which had smashed through the other side of the restaraunt. The boy's killing intent was at a high level, "RADITZ!" His eyes scanned around the eatery, and finally locked onto a tail that was hanging from a booth. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

Goku twisted his body and stood on his knees, peeking his head out of the booth. He hadn't even noticed the door being smashed in, his face being covered in rice and sauce, "What the hell is a Raditz?" He asked innocently, knowing that the fuming Vegeta was screaming at him. "If that's an Iwagakure curse word, it's lame."

Vegeta's jaw dropped, standing in the middle of the restaraunt with wide eyes. He looked around, and still Raditz was no where in sight, but a boy with a nearly indentical energy sat before him, and he was no doubt a saiyan just like him. The boy balled his hand into a fist and shot forward at Goku, but the Goku rolled out of the booth and dodged the powerful kick that destroyed his table.

Goku was still eating sushi in the midst of all this, flipping out of the way of Vegeta's punches and kicks, before sweeping low, and knocking the Prince off of his feet, and kicking him into the wall. He swallowed the last roll and tightened his headband that hung loosely around his waist. "Okay, you're seriously crazy."

"How dare you wear a tail and mock the saiyans, you fucking rat!" Vegeta screamed, barely being scratched by Goku's counter. His power level began rising, and the restaraunt itself started to shake. Even Goku took a wary step back, but he bumped into a large bald man, who was blocking his exit.

All of the civilians present had fled the restaraunt, even the owner. Goku looked around to find a way out of the situation, but has going to get pounced on by either Vegeta or Nappa if he chose to make a move.

"Vegeta!" Nappa screamed out, grabbing Goku by the back of shirt and lifting him off of the ground to show the angry boy across the room. "This is Kakarot! Raditz's brother!"

"I don't give a damn who he is, he shall pay for dishonoring such a legendary race!" Vegeta shot across the room in an instant, but was thrown back through the wall of the building by an equally fast kick he couldn't see coming.

In the middle of the room, stood K who had barely broken a sweat. He turned toward Nappa and let his killing intent rise slowly, "Release Goku," he ordered, and the boy was dropped to the ground without hesitation. "It's not in our interest to fight, so leave here, or else."

Nappa grinned, as he kicked Goku over to K, and the boy landed at his feet. Vegeta flew back into the building through the newly formed hole with a bloody grin, "Or else what?" Vegeta and Nappa said simultaneously.

"I alert the Tsuchikage of your misconduct," K stated dryly, picking Goku up by the back of shirt much like Nappa did. "I'm here on business, and it would be unforunate if the deal were ruined in it's early stages." He hoisted Goku over his shoulder and walked past Nappa without a problem, and left the two saiyans in the restaraunt blinking in awe.

Did he just threaten to snitch on them?

Goku looked at K with a frown, "What the hell was that all about, sensei?" He looked back at the restaraunt, "The food was amazing, and next thing I know that midget tried to kill me because of my tail!"

"I don't know, Goku," K responded while they walked across the bridge, "but we'll get to the bottom of it."

. . .

(Tsuchikage's Office)

"Onoki-sama, your guests have arrived," A younger woman said from behind the door.

The old man got up from his chair and floated to the middle of the room. He forcefully put a smile on his face, as the door slid open to reveal Goku and K standing there with matching blank expressions on their face. An air of silence followed behind them, and the three stood (or floated) looking at each other.

"Come in," Onoki broke the silence and the two entered the office and found a seat. He slowly floated behind his desk and sat down as well. "I'm glad you're punctual, I couldn't wait to get this meeting started."

"Neither could we," K said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. He looked around the office and then back at Onoki, "But before we begin, why don't we have a drink?"

The old man raised a brow, "A drink?" Onoki expected this to be a formal meeting, but he would do whatever the Kumogakure shinobi wanted as long as they were dishing out the money. He clapped his hands, "Bring a me bottle of our finest sake," Onoki looked over at Goku and slowly frowned. "Oh, yes, and some juice for the child."

In an instant, everything he requested appeared on his desk in a poof of smoke. He passed around glasses, and popped open the bottle of alcohol for him and K, while Goku had a generous ANBU member pour him a glass of apple juice.

Onoki took a sip from his glass and cautiously looked at K, "Why choose to have a drink right now?"

K shrugged, setting his glass down, "It's a heavy subject."

. . .

 _Update speed is going to be a bit faster now, I'm back at home. Thanks for the reviews too._ Next Chapter _: Root of All Evil_


	13. Root Of All Evil

**ROOT OF ALL EVIL ~ 13**

K sat up in his seat and crossed his legs, "Kumo is more than eager to help Iwagakure, but," His eyes focused fully on Onoki, and his words carried an air of seriousness behind them. "What are your true intentions?" K's questioned startled Onoki, but his tense facial expression let him know he was serious.

Onoki laughed and stroked his beard with his hand, "I showed you the future, I want to export that to the world!" K's stare prodded him to go on, "We've been working exclusively with the village's own Dr. Briefs. We'll be demonstrating some of the prototypes very soon, if you don't mind."

"That's excellent," K offered an uncharacteristic smile that made Goku spit out his juice and stare at him. His blank stare returned for the slightest of moments when he looked at Goku, but he turned back to smile at Onoki. "I see the pratical uses in this new technology, but what about the military uses?"

The Tsuchikage reached under his desk and got out a towel, wiping the apple juice Goku had spit on him off. His scowl was fixed on Goku, ready to call him an 'annoying brat,' but he remembered he was in an important meeting. He turned his head quickly and smiled back at K, "We haven't explored fully explored the military uses of our inventions, but we have developed amazing sensor technology." The man clicked a button under his desk, and the center of it started to slowly rise up.

The platform flipped and revealed a screen that was built into the desk. It slowly lit up, before a hologram image of Iwagakure popped up, and showed different colored dots moving throughout the map. Onoki looked up from it with a smile, while K and Goku still looked at the intricate map of Iwagakure.

"I can see any and everything going on in the village," Onoki informed the two interested foreigners, before clicking the same button that brought the map to life. It retracted back into his desk, "All of Iwagakure is covered by a grid that picks up every heat signature there is, and it can trace any movement."

"So you knew about us before we entered the village?" K questioned out of pure interest, and received a simple nod from Onoki. "That's interesting."

"Where did you get all this shiny stuff from anyway?" Goku raised a curious brow and looked at Onoki suspiciously. "This isn't the kind of thing you just come up with over night."

"We've worked tirelessly for the better part of a decade, gathering information, materials, and funds to put together such amazing projects. It helps that I have one of the brightest minds the great nations could produce working under me," Onoki answered smoothly and smirked at Goku. "But this an adult matter, why don't you keep drinking your apple juice, boy."

Before Goku could fire back, there was a knock on the door, and it effectively silenced the room. From behind it, a woman spoke up, "Dr. Briefs and his daughter are here for the demonstration, Lord Tsuchikage, is it okay for them to enter."

"Yes, they may enter," Onoki instructed floated from behind his desk to the middle of the room.

The door opened, and Dr. Briefs stood there awkwardly. He was a short, stocky man with gray hair that had hints of blue in it, and a gray mustache. The doctor of course wore a lab coat, over a blue shirt that was tucked into his pants, and despite being outside of his home; a pair of slippers covered his feet. He was loosely smoking a cigarette, pushing his large glasses up, and stepping into the room slowly. A smile crossed his face, "Hello everyone," He nodded toward all the men in the room in the most respectful manner he could.

After a brief moment of silence, a girl came in pushing a cart full of equipment. She sounded exhausting from what they heard, and she nearly collapsed once she entered the room. The doctor's daughter wore a black jumpsuit with the 'Capsule Corp' logo on the right arm of it. Her bright turquoise hair was tied into a tight braid, and had a red bow in it for decoration, "Damn it, daddy, why didn't we seal all of this into one capsule!?"

"I suppose that would have been smart," Dr. Briefs tapped his chin in thought, and then broke away from it when he realized where he was at. He smiled at the Tsuchikage, "Shall we get this demonstration started?" The three men nodded in unison, ready to see what the doctor had to show off. "Very well then, Bulma go on."

Bulma picked up one of the boxes set neatly on the cart, and opened it up to reveal multiple capsules of different colors. She picked one out and clicked the top of it, making it poof in smoke, and when the smoke cleared a device was sitting in the palm of her hand. The girl handed it over to her father.

"What's that?" Goku questioned with child-like curiousity, jumping out of his seat to grab it out of the hand of Dr. Briefs. The man had no problem clicking a button on the side of the device, and it instantly lit up with five small blue dots. "Is that us?" Goku asked pointing at the screen.

"Indeed it is," Dr. Briefs patted the boy on the head for his observation. "While it's small scale, it can track chakra signatures nearby. As of right now it can only hit a certain radius, but with modifications..." The old man grinned at everyone in the room and let their imagination do the rest.

"It almost eliminates the need for sensor ninja in the field, and saves actual chakra overall," Bulma chimed in to add to her father's explanation. "By absorbing a bit of your chakra, it sends out a pulse that picks up whatever's in the area, and tracks its every movement. In the future, we might be able to track more than just humans, such as certain substances found in weapons."

Goku wasn't even looking at the chakra radar any more, his tongue hanging out like a dog once he heard Bulma talk, "Hot and smart," but K pinched him on the back of the neck. He looked at the man with the same scowl he would give him when he misbehaved, "It's the truth, K-sensei."

Bulma blushed, but not at Goku's comment. Her eyes were locked on the emotionless man that pinched him, "It's okay, K-sensei," she winked at him, and he looked away in an instant. She frowned and folded her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes.

"While the radar is interesting," K decided to speak up about what he saw, "I don't think it's amazing enough to fund world-changing money into it."

Dr. Briefs smiled, not even slightly offended, unlike Onoki who was glaring at K. He went and picked up another capsule, "A lot of the things I make require little to no chakra to use, such as these capsules. These might be my most ground breaking invention actually," He said as he showed the small pink capsule to the room. "It's similiar to a sealing scroll, but much more portable. It's even based on the same fuinjutsu principles, but it doesn't need _any_ chakra to seal items within, and you can seal almost anything in this bad boy with a click of a button."

"You can seal a whole house in this thing," Bulma helpfully added in to her dad's spiel. "And as far as military use, you can seal multiple cases of weapons inside it. You can arm your whole force in a matter of seconds with these capsules."

"I'm sure you have more to show to K and his friend Goku," Onoki raised a brow and floated closer to Dr. Briefs, and the man's smile never left his face. He simply nodded, "Well, show us."

"I don't want to destroy your office," Dr. Briefs said calmly as he set down the pink capsule in the case, and carefully picked up a black one. "I think I have something that will pique Kumogakure-san's interest, and I'd like to take you outside of Iwagakure to show you."

"I'm fine with that," K cooed quietly as he stood up from his seat, and Goku promptly did the same.

The doctor happily clapped his hands together, "Ok then, let's go."

. . .

(Somewhere In Tsuchi no Kuni)

Multiple vehicles rolled through wastelands of Tsuchi no Kuni at a fast pace. They were brown in color, blending in with the natural colors of the land. The Iwagakure insignia was printed on the back of each vehicle, and their large tires left imprints in the ground as they tore through the lands.

Under the vehicle, a woman was cautiously clinging onto the many pipes and mechanical parts that made it run. She was slowly moving toward the edge of the vehicle, while pulling out a small gun with a large, circular barrel. Her eyes searched for the blue sky, slightly peeking her head out from under the vehicle.

Once she saw it, she pulled the trigger and a large flare was sent into the sky. The woman took a deep breath and dropped herself from the moving vehicle and tumbled across the ground. The flare had gone unnoticed, and the convoy kept driving through Tsuchi no Kuni.

"God, I hate doing the dirty work," The woman complained to herself. Her face was covered by a black-ski mask, and the rest of her body was concealed by a black body-suit. She was breathing heavily, after dropping herself from the moving vehicle, and she was sure she had a few bruises to show from it.

The flare she had sent up into the sky attracted what she wanted, which was a giant bird that came swooping down, and grabbing her body with its talons. It was no normal bird, its movements were robotic, and it had a few metallic features. It even released a machine-like caw, which still made the woman a bit un-easy.

"I guess I've gotta work on that," She mumbled to herself, before knocking on the metallic frame of the bird flying quickly through the air. "Take me to the meeting point." The bird looked down at its creator and its red eyes flared to life, before taking off at even faster speeds.

It wistfully moved through the sky and started moving closer to Iwagakure, as it was off in the distance, but the bird wasn't heading directly to the village. More along the outskirts there was a secluded area full of mountains, and a single hut in the center of it all.

The bird started to get lower to the ground and dropped its creator without warning. She was screaming loud as she fell and hit the ground with a thud.

Inside of the hut, the man living inside of it heard the loud crash outside, and decided to go see what it was. He opened the door of his home, to see a twitching woman clad in black, but he didn't seem worried. "You okay?" He sung out sweetly as he walked up to the woman's battered body.

"Fuck you, Jiraiya," She sat up and pulled the the mask off of her face. Her straight blonde hair dropped down to her lower back, and her brown eyes locked onto the Toad Sage's grin. "Why couldn't we meet somewhere nice, like a hot spring, or a private restauraunt? Maybe even a hotel!"

"Because working in my spy network isn't that luxurious," Jiraiya offered a hand to the woman and pulled her off of the ground. "You're a special agent though, Tights, and I might be able to work out some benefits for you."

Once she could stand up again, she pushed past Jiraiya and went inside his small hut. It wasn't much, but it had everything she needed to be comfortable now. The woman dubbed Tights went and sat down on the man's floor in front of his table. There were two cups of tea set up for them already, and he joined her within.

She rested her cheek within her palm and sighed, "All you made me is tea?"

"Well I figured our meeting would be _brief_ ," Jiraiya burst out into laughter, but it slowly faded once he realized Tights was completely serious. "Come on, that's a killer right there, I'm sure your dad would laugh at it!"

"I'm not my father, I'm a thirty year old woman; who just dropped out of a cargo truck to bring you this information!" She slammed her fist against the table and the drinks shook wildly within their cups. "Now do you want to hear it or not?"

"Well I figured we could talk about life a little bit first," Jiraiya said playfully as he picked up his cup and pouted his lip like a child. "But if it's that important to you, go ahead and de _brief_ me," The man couldn't hold back his giggles, and only received an irritated look from Tights in response. He settled down and smirked, "No seriously, tell me what's going on."

"Ok, do you want the good news, or the bad news?" She asked while sipping at her hot tea.

"Um, start me off with the good news," Jiraiya frowned slightly at the thought of bad news. The world was already taking an interesting turn, so bad news could only make it worse.

"Gato, the owner of Gato Industries was found dead in his factory a few days ago, and it was completely empty." Tights couldn't help but smile at the news of Gato's death, "I never really liked him, so that's cool with me, but..." Jiraiya's interested face made her go on, "His company is still exporting like crazy, and a whole shipment of those alien weapons are heading to Iwagakure at full speed. I think someone has taken over Gato Industries in his place."

Jiraiya groaned, slamming his cup against the table and nearly cracked it in half, "God dammit! He's been running a whole multi-million ryo operation under my nose in Hi no Kuni," He calmed down and focused on the situation at hand. "We need to find out who the new leader of Gato Industries is and take them down, if these weapons get into the wrong hands; power will be shifting immediately."

"It doesn't help that my daddy is working directly with that crazy old man," Tights frowned as she held onto her cup, "He's suppyling him with vehicles and technology that would have taken him decades to get, and ever since those kids appeared with their alien tech; it's been made even worse."

"I'm working out a plan for that old bastard, but for now I need to return to Konoha," Jiraiya tried to wrap his head around his next few plans of action, and Tights was quietly doing the same.

"You may want to talk to Kakashi when you arrive, he ended up killing Zabuza Momochi while he was working with Gato, so he might know something," Tights fed him the last bit of information she had before finishing off the tea and setting it on the table. "I'll be laying low here for a couple of days, I've got some new things to write about after all."

"I'm jealou-" Jiraiya and Tights abruptly fell to the ground after the sound of an explosion rocked the area.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

. . .

(Tsuchi No Kuni)

Goku had his face pressed against the window of the aircraft. Dr. Briefs had it stored in one of his many capsules, and at this point Goku couldn't lie and say he wasn't impressed. He had never flown in the air like a bird before, "This is amazing!" Goku yelled out toward Dr. Briefs, who sat in the co-pilot seat next to his daughter.

The doctor smiled at the boy, and so did Onoki, who was sitting next to K during their rides to the outer parts of Tsuchi no Kuni. K sat in silence, not showing any interest in what was going on.

Dr. Briefs swiveled in his chair and smiled at everyone on board, "I'm going to be showing you all the true storage capabilities of my capsules." They were putting a lot of distance from the village, which had finally spiked K's interest as to what he was going to show them. "You'll be able to make an entire base camp in scant seconds thanks to these capsules, and not just a bunch of makeshift tents with some fire, but a whole house! I think I'll call it an insta-base!"

"We'll work on some better names," Bulma said as she started to slowly lower the ship down to the ground. "It is amazing though." She pressed a button, and the hatch on the side of the aircraft opened, and let out a set of stairs for them to walk down.

Onoki was the first to float slowly out of the ship, and the rest of them followed suit. Dr. Briefs slowly walked out in front of the group, "If everyone would please step back." They did as instructed, and the man pressed the top of the capsule, before throwing it away from his body.

In a large 'poof' of smoke, a fully built house appeared in the clearing. Onoki smirked, K stared at it, and Goku's jaw was nearly on the ground. Dr. Brief's demonstration didn't end there, throwing another capsule, and an alterrain vehicle appeared in an instant. He kept throwing capsules, and more items came into existence. A crate full of food, weapons, and toiletries were stacked on top of each other.

The old man doctor turned around with a smile, "These capsules will change the battlefield and then the world, and it requires zero chakra to seal or activate it." He grinned while holding one last capsule, which was the black one he had brought with him from earlier. "It's so simple even a baby could do it."

"I'm impressed," K folded his arms and walked around looking at the items that spawned from the capsules.

"How much for one of these bad boys?" Goku asked as he jumped on the ATV.

"If things go well, Goku-kun, you can have it," Dr. Briefs smiled generously toward Goku, and the boy looked at his sensei with bright eyes.

Dr. Briefs began resealing everything back into their respective capsules, and Goku frowned when his ATV disappeared.

K rolled his eyes and turned away from everything and started walking back toward the aircraft, and Dr. Briefs followed behind him, "I think I've seen enough." He sat back down where he once did, and the rest of the group filed into the ship.

"There's one last thing I want to show you," The doctor had been holding one last capsule so carefully, and once everyone was inside the ship; he walked up to the door with the hatch still open. "Bulma take off, and move us a little farther out. I'm going to show Kumo-san one last thing, to show him that we over here at Capsule Corp, _and_ Iwagakure mean business."

"What are you about to do?" Onoki raised a curious brow as the man stood in the doorway of the aircraft, winding flying in rapidly as they flew away from the clearing. He didn't know what more the doctor could possibly show a seemingly unimpressed K to convince him to give them the money.

Dr. Briefs clicked the top of the capsule and tossed it out of the aircraft. He nearly jumped up and down after throwing it, and clapped with glee, "You guys better grab onto something?"

"What? Why?" Goku didn't understand what was going on, and from he could see; nothing was happening. They were waiting for a while, sitting there in blank silence. For that reason alone, he didn't accept the forewarning of grabbing onto the something.

The whole area was illuminated by a blinding white light, and immediately after a large explosion rocked the area. The aircraft shook crazily in the air, and Goku flew across the floor, nearly falling out of the ship in the process. Everyone in the ship, save for K, was screaming at the top of their lungs.

Even Dr. Briefs hadn't expected such a powerful explosion to happen, and when he looked outside; there was debris flying everywhere. He awkwardly turned his head toward Onoki, his cigarette hangling limply from his lip, "I guess it's a little unstable?"

"UNSTABLE!? THAT BOMB COULD WIPE A WHOLE CITY OFF THE MAP!" Onoki looked out the window and saw that large part of that area had been leveled by the capsule. There weren't any more mountains for miles, and not an animal in sight; not even birds. "We need to go down and check for collateral damage!"

The doctor grinned and scratched his neck nervously, "That might not be the best idea, I don't know how our bodies would react to such a bomb this early. We should give it a few weeks before we come back here."

Onoki was fuming with anger, "WHAT!?"

"I can't say I had the healthiest things in mind when I made this explosive," Dr. Briefs explained and tried to calm down the irate Onoki. "It probably wouldn't be in your best interest to breathe in all of that gun powder."

K was standing now that the aircraft was stable, and he walked up to Dr. Briefs, looking down on him. It was safe to say he was interested now, "You said there was no chakra needed for this ... bomb?" He looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"No chakra at all."

. . .

Next Chapter: _The Dangerous Doctor_


	14. The Dangerous Doctor

_**The Dangerous Doctor ~ 14**_

After returning to Iwagakure with Dr. Briefs, they decided to break apart from each other for the day. Goku wanted to get rest, and K needed to think things over. The Tsuchikage had other matters to attend to, and the Briefs family needed to get their equipment back to their lab.

Dr. Briefs had personally taken a liking to Goku, and invited him to spend the day with him, while K and the Tsuchikage could meet on more professional terms. The boy was given a full tour of Capsule Corporations and allowed to ride an ATV all through the building. It was safe to say he was having a good time during his visit.

"Goku, it's time for lunch," Dr. Briefs called out from the kitchen.

The doctor nearly jumped out of his seat and screamed like a child when the wall of his kitchen came crashing down, and Goku was sitting on his ATV covered in debris. Despite destroying the Brief's kitchen wall, he was smiling, as he wiped away the dust and debris from his hair, "Did you say lunch!?"

A blonde haired woman was just as startled as her husband, dropping the platter of food onto the floor. Her eyes didn't open through it all, and she hurriedly tried to put the lunch she prepared back onto the plate. A small smile appeared on her face, looking up at the boy, "Goku-chan! You scared us," She playfully frowned, not being able to stay mad at Goku.

Bulma entered the kitchen and sat down at the table, looking over at Goku with a frown, "Why didn't you invite his sensei instead?" She pouted and rested her cheek in her hand.

"He had important business to tend to," Dr. Briefs was reading through sets of papers while his family was eating lunch.

"And Goku-chan is such a pleasure to have around," Mrs. Briefs walked over to Goku and pinched his cheeks, "Come eat your lunch, baby," She was talking in childish voice when she spoke to him.

The boy blushed lightly, jumping off of the ATV and sat down at the table with the rest of the Briefs family. Mrs. Briefs had made stacked sandwiches for her family and her visitor, and Goku wasted no time digging into the meal like an animal.

Bulma took slow bites, staring at Goku, "Why not eat like a normal person, the food's not going anywhere," Her comment went unnoticed by Goku, who continued to rip through his meal, "This is disgusting."

Mrs. Briefs slapped her daughter on the wrist and frowned, "He's just a boy, don't judge him." She defended Goku without hesitation and patted him on the head. "Eat as much as you want to, Goku-chan."

"You'll always be welcome here, Goku-kun," Dr. Briefs offered his fist to Goku, who looked up from his food, and bumped fists with the older man. He smiled and Goku continued stuffing sandwiches down his throat, "It's not every day someone as talented as Goku comes walking into your house."

"Aw thanks-" No one was paying attention to Goku once a woman walked right into the kitchen like it was her own house. The boy had never seen her before, and he wasn't sure she was apart of their family. He jumped up, ready to fight, but Bulma pulled him back into his seat.

"I beg to differ, daddy," The woman had blonde hair that looked similar to Mrs. Briefs. She offered a light smile to the family and pulled up a chair to sit with them. Tights hadn't noticed how hard they were staring at her once she had walked in, "Do I really look that different?"

"Kami," Mrs. Briefs had her hand over her forehead, and she fell into her husbands arm.

"It's been a while," Bulma looked at her sister with a frown, "And to just show up randomly is kind of weird."

"I'm here on business," Tights rolled her eyes at her younger sister. She smiled at her father and he offered a frown in return, "Why's everyone acting so strange?"

"This is your first time stopping by in over five years!" Dr. Briefs slammed his fist against the table, "You can't act calm, we've been worried sick about you!"

"Being a writer is a serious profession, and I rarely get breaks," Her eyes averted to the newcomer sitting in her family's kitchen, and she smiled at him. She extended her hand over the table, "And who are you baby?"

"Son Goku," The boy shook her hand and smiled back. Despite the family drama being flung around in his face, he had no bad blood with Tights, since he had just met her, and he had already taken a liking to her. "I'm a ninja!"

"Oh, that's exciting honey, I wish I could've become a ninja like you," Tights ended up looking at her father with a slight frown. "My dad wanted me to stay home and be a scientist," She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I didn't come here to be dramatic though, I really missed you guys."

"You only come home when you want something," Bulma furrowed her brow and folded her arms over her chest. "So go ahead and spill it, what the hell do you want?"

Goku's eyes were shifting between Bulma and Tights as the women screamed at the top of the lungs while arguing. He frowned at the sudden turn of events, and the doctor finally got up to end all of their arguing.

Despite the both of his daughters being old enough to dictate their lives, he still had to put his foot down every once and a while, "Both of you!" Tights and Bulma looked at their father with wide eyes, not hearing him raise his voice in years. He grit his teeth and pointed at the doorway, "Go to your rooms right now, I'll speak with you two later! This is not how you act when we have guests!"

Surprisingly enough, the pair of sisters left the kitchen with their heads hung low, and the doctor turned to look at Goku with a smile, as if that scene had never happened. "I apologize, Goku," He walked back to the table and picked up his wife bridal style, "How can I make it up to you?"

"More food," Goku stated flatly and honestly.

"How about I do you one better?" Dr. Briefs grinned at Goku and started walking out of the kitchen, "Follow me!"

Goku ran up to his ATV, turning it back on, and dangerously burning off from the hole he created; destroying a lot of the kitchen in the process. He slowed down once he was behind the doctor, who was leading him through him many halls, and eventually stopped in front of a single metal door.

He turned towards Goku, grasping the handle, "I want you to be the first one to see my new training room." The doctor walked inside and Goku jumped off the ATV to follow the man. The whole setup was pretty empty, and multiple screens were built into the walls. In the center of the room was a large machine that the whole room was built around. "You can sharpen your skills in here while you wait for your sensei."

The boy traced his hands across the shiny walls and smiled, "Can it teach me some jutsu?"

"It can do _everything_ ," The doctor boasted.

. . .

(Tsuchikage's Office ~ Iwagakure)

After their meeting yesterday, Onoki knew that K was expressly interested in what the money would do for the military. The profit they would make exports was obvious, and the new jobs that would arise was just as clear. Onoki thought the money would be put in good hands with Iwagakure, since he thought that his village was about to revolutionize the world, and K shouldn't have needed any more reasons or examples.

Onoki sat straight up once the aforementioned man walked into his office, as stoic as ever. He smirked at K, while interlacing his fingers and leaning forward in his seat, "Greetings, K-sama," He received a simple nod, which irritated him to no end on the inside, but his smirk never faded. "Have you thought things over?"

K sat in silence, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the Kage's desk, "I suppose so," He too intertwined his fingers while he sat and conversed with the Tsuchikage, "And I think I finally have an offer for you."

The old man couldn't fight back his smile, and was eagerly waiting to hear what the offer was, "Which is?"

The man wasted no time pulling out a scroll and setting it on the desk. A moment of silence followed after he had brought the scroll out, and he slowly looked up at the Tsuchikage, who was staring at it with an intense glare. The old man bit his lip and picked the scroll up, while K visibly smirked.

"You prepared this last night?" Onoki started unrolling the scroll, which was full of text, and his eyes instantly went to the bottom where an empty signature line was located. There was too much for him to read at that moment, which made him look up at K with suspicion.

"No, the Raikage himself wrote the original contract," K leaned in and pointed his finger around the contract that was full agreements and clauses. "However, I made some minor changes to suit our situation."

"Such as?" Onoki pulled out a pair of glasses to go over the contract, so he wouldn't miss any detail.

"Just read it."

. . .

(Capsule Corp ~ Iwagakure)

Dr. Briefs stood before Goku with a wide grin on his face, he couldn't contain his child-like excitement. He had never been strong enough to fight on the front lines, but his mind was second to none in his village, "You can learn almost anything in this room, Goku-kun!" He yelled out, as he grabbed the boy's hand and brought him up to the main control device. "Chakra control, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and so much more!"

"Wha?" Goku looked at the super computer that controlled the whole room with a puzzled expression. "So I can finally learn a jutsu outside of the basics?" He looked up at the doctor with hopeful eyes and the man nodded in return. The boy jumped up happily, clapping his hands together.

Since he had been a Genin, his training had been non-physical. Despite his sensei's dangerous reputation, all the man did to sharpen his skills was meditate, and basic chakra control techniques to keep his energy balanced. Goku felt like he was ready summon lightning and fling fireballs like it was nothing.

The doctor just wanted Goku to realize his potential, "Yes, Goku, you can." He turned around and started typing on the keyboard of the device, "You mentioned that you never learned anything outside of academy basics, correct?" Dr. Brief's head turned quickly and saw Goku nod repeatedly, "Well place your hand on the wall."

Goku waddled over to the wall and did as instructed, and the panels moved apart to reveal another screen. It scanned his hand print, "What's going on?" He looked over at Dr. Briefs with interest written all over his face, and the screen started to light up.

"Feed the mechanism a little bit of your chakra," The doctor continued typing into the device, and it sent back commands instantly.

The boy quirked his eyebrows and shrouded his hand in blue chakra, the screen began beeping rapidly, and turned orange. Goku quickly pulled his hand back and screamed, "Did I break it!?" He looked at the doctor with worried eyes, and the man just laughed.

"No, it indentified your chakra affinity," The doctor answered smoothly and looked at the screen to confirm it. "Fire is your main element, Goku-kun," He grinned at the boy and he received an eager smile in return. Dr. Briefs typed in a few more commands, "Since you've never learned about nature or shape transformation, I'll start you off with the basics before I throw you into actual jutsu."

"Eh, okay," Goku smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

With the click of a button, an animated man appeared on each screen in the room. His true colors weren't known, only being displayed in the green hue of the computer screens. His facial features weren't very defined, simply being a floating head with pupil-less eyes, "Good morning, Goku-kun!" The startled boy jumped away from the screen defensively, "My name is Shidō! The super shinobi training system!"

"Goku, he's just an AI," The doctor laughed at the boy's fear and tried to calm him down. "He can't harm you."

"SINCE WHEN DO WALLS TALK!?" Goku was still backing away from where Shidō appeared on the screen.

Goku back into the opposite wall, and another screen popped out with Shidō's face on it. He turned around and leapt away, "I cannot harm you, Goku-kun!" The robotic voice assured the boy, "I am nothing but an artificial intelligence created by Dr. Briefs! My sole purpose in life is to teach you, Goku-kun!"

The boy playfully frowned, "I bet you say that to all the young shinobi."

"It's my job, Goku-kun!" Shidō's excited voice explained to the boy, "I understand you want to learn about the nature of fire, correct!?"

Goku nodded eagerly and smiled at Shidō, less weirded out by the concept of a talking wall, computer, or whatever Shidō happened to be. He folded his arms over each other and raised his brow, "Yeah, how the hell are you going to teach me that without any arms, legs, or just a body in general?"

Shidō couldn't control his laughter, as he promptly made a grunting noise, and mechanical arms began sprouting out from the walls all around Goku. Before they could grab the boy, they slowly retracted to where they had come from, "Don't worry about the little things, Goku-kun! Allow my words to guide you to your goals!"

The alien's skin crawled, he was sure one of the robotic hands had tickled him before creeping back into the wall. He had accepted Shidō as a cool guy before, but he was back on his questionable side, "Uh, okay, then how are we going to start?"

"Hold out your hands and generate a steady chakra flow!" Shidō instructed as he watched Goku promptly do what he was told. "When using and creating a jutsu there are two aspects! Nature transformation and shape transformation! For now I want you to focus on creating a fire in the palm of your hands!"

Goku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He searched within his body for a warm feeling. While K had never taught him any actual jutsu, he explained every feeling and sensation to search for when he finally got to that point. At first he didn't find the feeling he was looking for, but in an instant; his hands ignited.

It was like the gates of hell had been opened, and fire shot out of his palms at an alarming rate. Goku instantly cut off the flow of chakra to his hands and stared in amazement, "I might have over did it a little bit," He looked up with a sheepish grin, and Dr. Briefs stared at him in awe.

"Excellent, Goku-kun!" Shidō exclaimed and celebratory music played from the computer.

"Wow, I could have taught myself to do that," Goku balled his hands into a fist and smiled at Shidō, and only got a smirk out of the computer AI.

"Well why didn't you!?" Shidō burst into laughter and sound of a 'ba-dum-tiss' from a drum set promptly played after he stopped laughing. Goku stared at the computer with a blank face now and Shidō couldn't help but snicker, "Anybody can shoot fire out of their hands like a flamethrower though, it's time to apply shape transformation, which might be a little harder!"

"What's a flamethrower?" Goku asked with a raised brow.

"Another lesson for another day!" Shidō was cracking himself up, "But we have to be _brief_ because your time is limited!" Even the doctor joined in on the laughter with his creation, and the only person standing there without even the slightest smile was Goku.

He looked between Shidō and Dr. Briefs simply blinking at their slap-stick comedy session. The boy looked at the doctor, while pointing at Shidō, "You wrote all of this?" He questioned with a disappointed look on his face.

"Of course I did, Goku-kun," Dr. Briefs and Shidō hadn't stopped laughing the entire time.

"Are you ready to apply shape transformation to what you learned, Goku-kun!?" Shidō asked with excitement laced in his voice.

"Yeah, let's do it."

. . .

(Tsuchikage's Office)

Absurd, that was the only word that Onoki could manage to think of after reading over the contract K handed him. His nation would have the money to get back on their feet, but at what cost? There were many demands to be met with Kumogakure, and the Tsuchikage was far from okay with what was presented to him. The man clenched his teeth together while quietly staring at K, who's blank expression never changed the entire meeting.

The financial aid offered by Kumogakure came at no small cost. Should he sign his name at the bottom of the contract, he would be giving up a percentage of his land, profit, and military control. He was more than angry, but he covered it well with a murderous smile, "I see," Onoki mumbled quietly. "The people over in Kumo must take me for a fool," He said, slowly rising from his seat and glaring at K.

K's expression remained calm, despite Onoki being obviously angry. He shook his head slowly and looked at the Tsuchikage, "We simply have needs," K eased into his explanation, trying not to set off the infuriated kage. "We both understand that this is no small amount of money."

"I understand," Onoki's glare was fully fixated on K, "BUT MY VILLAGE AND MY PEOPLE CANNOT BE BOUGHT BY ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY!" There was no space between K and Onoki, and he was staring the Kumo Jounin right in his emotionless eyes. He knew deep down, he could put some fear into the man, "To demand multiple Kumogakure military bases in Tsuchi no Kuni, a portion of my exports, and a stake in my military power is outrageous!"

K was scared of no man, even if one of the most powerful shinobi in the world was staring right into eyes. He wouldn't back down no matter who he faced, "The Raikage is kind enough to try and pull your pitiful country from the economic recession you're experiencing, but I see your pride is too strong for you to accept such a blessing." K word's were laced venom, yet he never raised his voice, or even showed any sign of anger. "I see wisdom isn't promised with old age, for you not to realize the potential of this deal must prove me right."

The Jounin rarely went on rants, but when he did; it was to prove a point, and he was always dead set on getting under the skin of his enemy. For someone as young as him to question the Tsuchikage's authority and intelligence had surely done the trick, and if were the kind of person to smile when he was winning; he'd be smiling from cheek to cheek right now. Onoki was fuming with anger, and his killing intent was too hard to hide at this point.

"You still can be apart of a nation wide super power, with you spearheading the east, and Kumogakure controlling the west. Revenue and military power will be at an all time high," K tried to reason with the old man, but he was preaching to deaf ears at this point. "Kumogakure would support Iwa in the infancy stages right here from Tsuchi no Kuni, and we'll eventually start branching out into the inner part of the country."

" _No_ ," Onoki hissed out quietly, nearly spitting in K's face. He would admit that he had entertained the idea of an alliance with Kumogakure, but after such a confident attempt to control his nation, and his people; he had to kill any negotations between the two hidden villages. Onoki furrowed his brow, "Your attempt to come in and try to sway my opinion with money is cute, brat, but I'm not that easily bought."

"You'll surely regret this decision," K came to a stand and looked down on Onoki with a frown. "Without the money to pay the shinobi what they deserve, your power will slowly crumble, because despite what you might think; this whole world revolves around money. The ninja you think are so loyal will flee to other nations searching for work so they can provide for their family." The black haired jounin realized that the discussion was done and turned his back on the Tsuchikage, which served as the breaking point for the man, "I've said too much though."

The seasoned shinobi's face was twitching uncontrollably, and his killing intent was through the roof now, " _If you think the power is leaving Iwagakure, you are gravely mistaken_." Onoki explained to K in a cold tone, which made the man making his exit turn and stare at him. "I know what you're trying to pull now, K."

"What?" K asked with a raised brow, and a ghost of a smile.

"This whole meeting, the offer, the money.. it was all just attempt to put your nose in Iwagakure's business, and that..." Onoki balled up his fist and closed his eyes, he took a deep breath before pointing a shaking finger at K, "Is unforgivable, I'm afraid I can't let you leave Iwagakure."

"Or else what?"

Onoki's words were deathly serious, "You and Kumogakure's precious alien child spend the rest of your lives rotting away in prison," The old man smiled, "or die."

K didn't seem at all affected by the man's threat, "Hm, send your best."

He disappeared in his infamous crackle of electricity before Onoki or his ANBU could pounce on him.

Five ANBU members appeared the instant the man had disappeared, being to slow to catch K. The Tsuchikage was more than angry with the five standing before him, and the leader of the squad stepped forward and bowed down to Onoki. "What are our orders, Tsuchikage-sama?" The rest of the ANBU got down on one knee as well and waited for instruction.

Onoki took a deep breath and looked out toward his village, "Son Goku from Kumogakure and his sensei the Limitless K are wanted dead or alive, _tonight._ " The man turned quickly and stared down the ANBU in his office, "Lock down the village; I don't want anybody leaving until those upstarts are imprisoned and interrogated about their true mission. K personally requested for the best to return his head back to me on a silver platter, so gather the saiyans; it's time to show them our strength."

"Yes sir," All of the ANBU said in unison before disappearing as quickly as they had came.

"After tonight, no one will question my power ever again," Onoki mused to himself as he stared at Iwagakure slowly transitioning to night time.

. . .

(Capsule Corporation)

Goku inhaled deeply and breathed out a steady stream of fire that illuminated the whole room. He couldn't hide the grin on his face, as he slowly started to master his element. It was his first day trying to expirement with the element, and according to Shidō he was a quick learner. He had even applied the shape transformation a few times, but it was easier for him to just shoot out shapeless, and destructive flames.

"Very good, Goku," Dr. Briefs face appeared on a screen, being in a different room now. He had replaced Shidō for the time being, wiping away at his blackened face, and Goku couldn't help but laugh once he saw that he had burned off the doctor's eyebrows. Even Dr. Briefs got a laugh out of it, "It looks better from here too, and not being blasted directly in my face."

"Ha, I'm sorry Doctor!" Goku bowed politely and rubbed his head with an awkward grin. His training was going well, but he still had his moments where couldn't control his flames, and the older man had seen the worst of it. It was all in good fun though, "What am I learning next, Dr. Briefs?"

"Eh, I'd rather you master the technique Shidō taught you first, because I can't risk losing my mustache next, or even worse my hair!" He burst out into laughter and touched at where his eye brows used to be. It would take some time for him to get used to his new look, "I must say, you did a good job! You burned 'em all they way down to the follicles!" Dr. Briefs didn't let his missing eyebrows get him down, and say the light of the situation.

"What can I say, I'm thorough!" Goku smiled cheekily and slowly practiced the hand seals that went with the new technique he had learned. His chakra control wasn't the best, but it was above an average Genin's, so he could thank K for that. He couldn't wait to move onto something new though.

The boy practiced by himself, going through some taijutsu, and even tried his hand at genjutsu while he waited for K to appear like he had promised. He was enjoying his stay in Iwagakure, but it had been a while since he had seen his Grandpa, or his mother. Despite all of that, he was still grateful for the new friends he had made in the short week he was away from home.

It was his first week as a shinobi, and he had already met one of the legendary sannin, the Tsuchikage, and the smartest man in all of Tsuchi no Kuni in Dr. Briefs. He would have nothing but entertaining stories to tell his friends once he returned, and it gave the boy a good feeling in his body.

He was so focused on his solo training, he hadn't noticed all of the commotion going on, on the screen that Dr. Briefs was streaming to. Goku focused for a moment, and saw the door of the room Dr. Briefs was in fly across the room and smash into the wall.

No time was wasted, and in a matter of seconds; Dr. Briefs was placed in a tight head lock in view of the camera. His assailant was the boy Goku had met the day before, Vegeta. He had an evil grin on his face, "Kakarot, surrender yourself or this old piece of work gets it!"

"Who in the world is Kakarot?" Goku asked with a furrowed brow, balling his fist up and tried to see where Vegeta was located. "Nevermind that, I'll surrender myself, just leave the Doctor alone!" He cried out and ran up to the screen to with a worried expression on his face.

Vegeta released the doctor to the ground in an instant. The man was stunned by how quickly Vegeta had gotten the drop on him, and moved through the building without being caught. The boy smiled, "Very good, give me your locatio-" The connection between the training room and Dr. Brief's office was cut off, and left Goku staring in awe.

"Goku!" A woman's voice called for him repeatedly, outside of the training room. She threw the door open and ran in, grabbing the shocked boy by his wrist, and dragged him out of the room. "We're under attack, we need to get the hell out of here!" Tights tried to pull him away, but he was stuck in the same spot.

"He's going to kill the doctor, we can't leave!" Goku's authoritative yell startled Tights, but she continued trying to drag him out of the room.

"My dad's no spring chicken, he'll be fine, now let's go!" She picked the boy up and threw him over her shoulder in a quick show of strength. Tights rushed and jumped onto the back of the ATV, which Bulma was sitting on waiting for the two of them. The older sister looked around worriedly, "Where is our mom?"

"She's with daddy," Bulma wasted no time pushing the button that started the vehicle. The trio burned away from the training room and sped through the hall ways as they tried to evacuate the large Capsule Corps. building. "They'll be alright, Tights, don't worry."

As the three tore through the building at high speeds, a menacing aura was getting stronger as they moved toward one of the many exits. Bulma's eyes were the size of saucer plates, "Oh shit," Tights and Goku looked down the hall and saw Vegeta flying through whatever was in his path to get to them. Bulma skidded to a sudden halt and turned the vehicle in the opposite direction, since she had no intentions of being caught up in Vegeta's wrath.

Tights drew her ray gun and surprised Goku, not knowing what the weapon was. She fired off a few quick beams, and Vegeta maneuvered around them with ease. Tights bit her lips and kept shooting at the boy who was only getting closer to them, "Can you make this thing go any faster?" She turned to look at Bulma, and her sister shook her head. "Fuck!"

"Hand over Kakarot right now, this game of cat and mouse is beneath me!" Vegeta shouted out as he tried to close the distance between him and the trio. He was moving impossibly fast, but dodging beams from the ray gun, and adjusting his body in mid-air slowed him down. The ATV he was chasing wasn't exactly slow either.

Goku was still thrown across the shoulder of Tights like a kid, and he frowned. He squirmed out of her grasp and stood on the back of the ATV and held onto the metal frame, "If it's me that he wants, then that's what he'll get." Goku made a single hand seal and gathered his chakra, but before his preparation could be finished; the whole building was flashing in red, and the sound of an alarm had gone off. He looked at Tights with worried eyes, "What's going on?"

"Dad just shut the building down, this is a code red," Tights explained to Goku with a small smile.

Vegeta suddenly shot forward, his raging white aura swallowing the blasts from the ray gun, and he tried to power his way to Goku. He tried to focus on the boy, but metal walls suddenly shot up from the floor, and the prince smacked into the wall like an insect. He was moving so fast that an imprint of his body could be seen on the other side.

More walls were shooting up, not even waiting for Goku and company to get out of the building. Tights and Bulma looked at each other with fear written all over their expressions, "We seriously need to get out of here!"

"Wha? What's going to happen?" Goku was equally worried about what was going on.

"This whole place is going to plunge itself underground and seal itself off," Tights explained to Goku, since she knew about the building better than anyone else, save for her father.

Goku groaned and massaged his temple, what hell had gone wrong in Iwagakure?

. . .

 _The Tsuchikage's mad, isn't that fun?_ Next Chapter: _No Games_


	15. No Games

_**No Games ~ 15**_

The Kumogakure Jounin bounced from bridge to bridge with one thing on his mind: finding Son Goku. He couldn't afford to lose the boy, lest he wanted to deal with the Raikage's wrath upon his return, and that was if he were to survive to even make it back to Kumogakure. His student didn't know, but he was extremely important to his village.

K focused his gaze on where the Capsule Corporation building was located, on the edge of the village. He quickly recalled that Goku was to spend the day with the scientist and his family. In hindsight, he regretted the decision to let the boy roam free, but he couldn't involve him with political business too soon. He didn't expect his mission to go wayward either.

While it was true that his real reason for being Iwagakure was reconnaissance, he didn't expect Onoki to take the situation the way he did. Now he was being hunted down by the best shinobi Iwagakure could offer, and he kind of requested it that way. K bit his lip and shook his head, as he moved through the village at high speeds toward Dr. Briefs' home.

His pony tail swung with each rapid movement through the unknown territory. While he was no stranger to Iwagakure, it had been some time since his last visit, and he had trouble navigating through the village. It didn't feel as natural as jumping through the forests of Hi no Kuni, or bouncing through the mountainous terrain and rivers of Kaminari no Kuni. It felt _different_.

The land was devoid of any real natural beauty, just desolate rocky areas surrounded by equally dull forests, and the hidden village in the center of it all was just as unimpressive to K. It lacked the natural flow of energy that most areas full of life had, and it threw his senses off a great deal, since he relied on the natural energy of the world more than anything.

Normally he was able to trace even the slightest amount of natural energy in the area, but since he had arrived in Iwagakure; his senses were practically dead. The sensation of natural energy washing over his body was close to foreign at this point, so for something to be oozing substantial amounts of it shocked him a great deal.

As he sped through Iwagakure, his eyes searched around for the source of it, and he got exactly what he was looking for. He was far from pleased though, seeing the man he had threatened the day before flying at him at full speed, and from his peripheral, a boy with an energy almost identical to Goku's. The stoic man jumped off of the bridge and plummeted to the ground without any second thought.

He hated to be sidetracked, since he was indeed looking for Goku, but his request of 'send your best' was being more than fufilled at the moment. K twisted his body in the air as he flew through hand seals and held it on the last, "Turn around while you can," K warned but only received a crazy grin from Nappa in response. "Very well then," The man of many nicknames ignited all of the built up chakra, inhaling deeply and spitting out multiple balls of fire at Nappa and Raditz. He tried to throw off the saiyan's flight pattern, but they maneuvered with expert precision.

K grit his teeth and performed two more seals and the balls of fire exploded outward, and shook the area. Like he had originally planned, Raditz and Nappa were thrown off; smacking against the rock walls of Iwagakure. K himself sacrificed some of the smoothness from his landing, crashing into the ground, but he quickly jumped up so he could put distance between him and Iwagakure's resident aliens.

Raditz groaned in pain as he fell from the crater formed by his body being thrown into the side of the building. He limply fell from the crater and nosedived toward the ground, his aura exploding outward as he angrily tried to track down the fleeing K. His eyes were full of raging anger, "Where is my brother!?" He screamed out at the running kumo-nin, which made him skid to a halt and turn to face him with a raised brow. "Yes, you heard me right! Where is my brother!?"

K pointed at Raditz with a playfully confused expression, "You have a brother?" An angry nod from Raditz was the response, and K simply smiled. He decided to play dumb for the time being, "Why would I know where he is?" K was a different animal during battle, since his enemies never got to tell the story of how the 'Limitless K' smiled and cracked jokes.

"You're his damn sensei!" Raditz's aura flared wildly and his killing intent sky rocketed while focusing on K. Nappa touched down on the ground soon after, "The Tsuchikage wants the both of you in prison before the sun rises for interrogation, but I don't have the patience to leave you alive."

"You're that confident?" The foreign shinobi asked with a raised brow and a smirk, "You're so young though, I'd hate to see someone with so much potential die so soon."

Raditz grinded his teeth against each other, deciding to stop wasting time talking to K, since he obviously wouldn't leak any information. He took off at breakneck speeds, leaving a trail of his white aura in his wake. Raditz cocked his arm back and tried to punch the smirking shinobi in his face, and it connected. The young saiyan's eyes widened when he realized his punch hadn't even turned K's cheek, and the man stood there with his smirk still plastered on his face.

"You're just a boy," K cocked his arm back much quicker than Raditz had anticipated and sent him flying across the ground with a much stronger punch. The man simply shook his hand after connecting with Raditz's face, "And I'm a man, however, I'm no normal man. You should fight me as such, like I'm one of your own."

Raditz had been knocked back to Nappa's feet, and he was so stunned; he had barely processed what had just happened. No human was that strong, even the Tsuchikage himself didn't pack a punch quite like that. "How dare you compare your mortal strength to that of a saiyan!" Raditz spat out, fully recuperated from K's punch, and came to a stand.

The man was powerful, but he still wasn't a saiyan, "We're going to have you on your knees begging for mercy when we're done here!" Nappa yelled out and got into a fighting stance next to Raditz. The both of them were ready for whatever the wily shinobi could throw at them, and as if beckoning the shinobi to come forth; Nappa held up his index and middle finger, while K stood defensively.

His eyes narrowed and focused on Nappa's fingers, 'What kind of jutsu is that?' K braced himself as Nappa pulled his fingers backwards, and used that as his chance to shoot forth with amazing speed, but was thrown back by an invisible force. Everything around him was suddenly engulfed in an explosion, and he was unforunate enough to be caught in the center of it all.

" **Bakuhatsuha**!"

. . .

(Capsule Corporation)

Bulma was the first to jump off of the ATV and rush into the room they stopped before. Tights and Goku followed her lead, and they were soon shut off from the rest of the Capsule Corps. building. Goku looked back at his ATV and mouthed the words 'no' when a metal door shut automatically and sealed away his view of the vehicle.

A playful tear rolled down his cheek, "My love, I'll see you again," He mumbled to himself, and Tights smacked him upside his head. Goku looked up with a groan, "What was that for?"

"This building is about to be six feet deep and you're worried about a damn cart?" She shook her head and turned Goku's head toward all of the capsules being held in the room. "Grab as many as you can so we can get out of here!"

Goku followed her instructions without any argument. After seeing firsthand what the capsules were capable of, he surely wanted to take some with him to travel with. He stuffed all of his pockets and pouches with the small capsules and ran back up to Bulma and Tights who were in the center of the room, "What now?"

The two women looked at a each other for a brief moment and nodded. The whole point of coming there was to _escape_. While the room looked like nothing more than storage to Goku, it had actually been an exit, and the two sisters displayed that once they broke away from each other to different sides of the room.

Bulma found a mini-computer built into the wall and started typing in demands, while her sister was trying to pry apart to two pieces of a wall that were supposed to open up on a normal day. The blue haired girl kept punching in different codes, but nothing could override the fact the building was experiencing a code red, which meant everything had to be shut down.

It wasn't until Goku ran up and punched the mini-computer's screen that the wall spread apart like Bulma and Tights had wanted. He simply grinned, "Sometimes the best way to fix all this fancy's'mancy stuff is with a good ol' fashioned reboot," Goku kissed his fist and held it out toward Bulma; who just looked at him in disbelief.

This boy was truly something else, he had done what she was trying to do so hard with a simple punch, and broke the system. She rolled her eyes and walked past him with her hands on her hips, "Alright, time to get out of here." She looked at her sister with a wide smile, "Go ahead, get in." Bulma was gesturing toward a giant dumpster that was full of discarded capsules and miscellaneous trash. The smell filled the whole room and left a bad taste in their mouths.

"I'm not getting in that thing!" Goku yelled out and stomped his foot like a child. "I'd rather get buried with this building, at least me and ATV-chan can finally be together." His eyes drifted back toward the door with a creepy smile on his face.

Tights picked Goku up and carried him bridal style with relative ease. She threw him into the dumpster first and jumped in herself afterward, with Bulma running across the room to punch the computer again, and then darting across the room again to jump in the dumpster with her new team.

The older woman stroked Goku's garbage filled hair and tried to calm him down, "Think about Capsule Corporation like one big body, and this is essentially the shitter that's going to take us to the promised land." She smiled at the boy, and he didn't hold back his glare.

"The only time I'm okay with something like this is when I'm covered an enemy's blood," A dark smile slowly appeared on Goku's face as he stared at Tights. His dark sense of humor a little too heavy for her, "I was just kidding." He assured her and rolled his eyes, at least getting comfortable while being among the garbage of Capsule Corps.

He had to bat away a half-eaten piece of chicken from falling on his face once the dumpster closed and shot down. The three escapees were thrown around violently during their plummet toward the underground trash facility, and Goku let out a pained groan each time his body smacked against the wall of the dumpster.

All of the pain had come to a stop, and Bulma pushed the lid of the dumpster open cautiously. She peeked her head out and instantly covered her nose after being hit with the strong smell of garbage. The whole area was filled close to the ceiling with trash and she let the dumpster lid close once more, "Good news or bad news?" She looked at Tights and Goku with a small smile.

"Good news!" Tights and Goku chirped happily, not even expecting for there to be good news.

"Ok, we're going to make it out of here alive if we work fast," Bulma told her sister and her house guest.

"What's the bad news?" Goku asked worriedly.

"We have to swim through garbage to get there."

The somewhat happy mood inside of the dumpster was shot down a great degree. Goku was the first to crawl to the edge and look out at the room full of empty capsules, broken projects, and straight up trash from the Briefs' family. His eyes flared up when he saw an exit pathway, but he remembered how he had to get there. He frowned and climbed out of the dumpster without any hesitation and tried to swim through the garbage. He would at least make the best of his situation.

Tights held her breath and jumped into the ocean of trash after Goku, and Bulma followed after them. She needed a little more time to brace herself, and closed her eyes to try and imagine actually swimming through a pool. A bug squirming into her nose reminded her that this was in fact real trash, and she nearly screamed.

Her older sister was taking it better, holding her breath for the longest. She waded through garbage, and could only think about how disappointed in her father she was right now. He was supposed to the most organized man in Tsuchi no Kuni, yet he couldn't even remember to get a garbage man to come clear out their waste.

Goku was dealing with it the best out of all three of them. At first the thought of swiming through garbage sounded disgusting, but once he got into something; he really went through with. He was pushing trash out of the way with ease and he was quickly making his way to the exit that led to who knows where. He got used to the stench and as he paved his way through the garbage, he saw a ladder that would take them out of the room full of trash.

He grabbed onto the ladder and started climbing, once he was above all of the trash; he took a long and deep breath. It wasn't exactly a breath of fresh air, but it was _something_. Goku grinned as he extended his hand out to Tights, and then he did the same for Bulma once the elder sister was pulled up, "Where is this going to take us?"

"I don't know, Goku, I usually take the front door out of my house, so for all I know we're going to be in the middle of the village," Tights spoke up and looked up to the metal door that the ladder led to. "We can only hope it does, and not something stupidly far from the village."

"Wait, before we go back outside, can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Bulma yelled at the two who seemed as calm as ever. As far as she knew, they were under attack, and things couldn't been that much better on the outside.

"The Tsuchikage sicced his rabid dogs on us, but I don't know why," Tights looked at Goku with a worried expression. "I'm guessing it's because of this kid and his sensei, because the Capsule Corporation didn't do anything wrong to the village, and it wouldn't be in his best interest to cut off ties with daddy."

"Goku why are you in Iwagakure exactly?" Bulma looked up with a furrowed brow.

"Important meeting with the Tsuchikage 'er something," Goku for the most part shrugged and started climbing up the ladder, "But if that old man wants a fight, I'll mop the floor with that sorry S.O.B." The boy didn't really understand or care about the power difference between them, so he would say what he wanted.

Tights threw her ray gun down to her younger sister, "It's probably going to be a bit hectic once we get out there, so hold onto that. We need to help Goku get out of Iwagakure." The woman started climbing after Goku, but stopped once she saw her little sister staying put with a frown on her face. "What?"

"Why should I help this brat and get myself exiled or even worse killed?" Bulma spat out, tucking the ray gun into the back of her skirt.

"Because he clearly has daddy's best interest at heart unlike that old bastard of a Tsuchikage we've got running this place," Tights tried to reason with her sister, since she would be a lot of help in their plan to escape. She offered a smile to the teenage girl, and she smiled back, but her eyes were still worried.

"And how do you plan to protect yourself, Tights?" Bulma asked as she placed her hand on the ray gun she had just tucked away.

"I should be honest with you, lil' sis," She grinned at the blue-haired teenage girl, "While I do travel the country as a writer, that's mostly a cover up so daddy will leave me alone. I've been working as a shinobi for the better part of seventeen years." Her heart warmed at the thought of her employer, Jiraiya, who she had been in multiple situations like this with.

"Look, this whole sister-to-sister moment is as adorable as a baby's bottom, but we've gotta get the hell out of here!" Goku yelled out and kept climbing the ladder, pushing open the hatch that led back to the outside world. He heard faint sounds of explosions and shinobi fighting in the distance and instantly crawled out.

They were led to a dark alley way that had a light at the end of the tunnel. The boy helped the two other women out of the underground trash storage and pointed toward the light, "We've gotta get back to the village and save my sensei, he's probably in deep shit without me."

"I doubt it, kid," Bulma patted Goku on the head and walked ahead of him. "That trash duct led us all the way outside of the main part of the village, and you're insisting that we go straight back to it." She looked at Goku, and he simply nodded. "You're really something else."

Having a quick and simple solution, Tights popped open a capsule and threw it before them. After the smoke subsided, a hover craft similar to the one Bulma and Goku had flown in the day before appeared. It was black in color, and would fit in well with the village that was slowly transitioning into night time. "Let's go kids," She pushed Goku and Bulma forward and got them inside the small plane.

She sat in the pilot's seat, and turned the machine on without any hesitation. It shot forth with amazing speed and ascended into the sky over Iwagakure. They had a great bird's eye view from where they were, and she turned to smile at the two others she brought up for the ride.

"Wow, I can see my house from here!" Goku always wanted to say that, his face planted against the window.

"What? No the hell you can't!" Bulma had to take a second glance out of the window before returning her glare to Goku.

"Forget it," Goku giggled and turned away from the window and leaned against the cold wall of the plane, "Whatever happened to that guy that was chasing us?" He looked at Bulma and she simply shrugged.

"Actually, I think I might know where he's at," Tights quietly mumbled.

Goku and Bulma looked at Tights with a curious brow raised, and gasped.

There he was. Vegeta stared right into the cock pit of the air craft with nothing but hate in his eyes. His clothes were torn and he had a few cuts and bruises on his body, especially on his face. A trail of blood was freely leaking from his forehead, "You know," Despite being a ball of anger right now, his words were calmer than ever. He reached his hand out and punched through the glass of the aircraft, and ripped it away to let the shards fly off into the distance. "I don't really like going on wild goose chases, especially this far." He gestured toward the sky, "I'm a long way from home, and it's safe to say I'm not happy about it."

"Fuck you!" Goku charged forward and extended his leg, quite surprised when he connected with the airborne saiyan's face, and the both of them were free falling toward the ground. Vegeta was a bit disgruntled by the surprise kick, but he never released the boy's leg from his grip, and spun in the air.

He sent Goku flying toward the ground at an even faster than before, and brought his hands to his side to charge a ball of pure energy. He smiled, "You're a wily one, Kakarot, and your brother will probably rip me a new asshole once he finds out I killed his beloved baby sibling, but I think it'll be worth it for all this trouble you've caused." Not that he was even scared of anything Raditz would do to him in the first place.

Goku's body smacked against the air craft that flew under him hard, and he nearly bounced off of it and kept falling to the ground, but he stuck to it with his chakra. He looked up to the sky and saw Vegeta charging a blast at his side, and considering that he was the target; he didn't want Bulma and Tights getting involved in his battle.

He flew threw handseals and took a _very_ deep breath. Pumping as much chakra as he could through his body to ignite such a powerful fire technique, and spat out an oversized fireball at Vegeta. The boy didn't have time to wait for Vegeta to build up his attack, and didn't want to see what would happen if he released it.

The recoil from his new technique made him fall flat against the surface of the plane. Vegeta himself had to shoot his blast of energy forth to try and slow down Goku's fire. An explosion sounded from the impact of the two attacks crashing into each other, and they were both sent flying in opposite directions.

Bulma was crazy enough to extend her upperbody out of the open door of the air craft, trying to grab Goku and pull him back inside. She was successful, but the plane was still crashing toward the ground, and would likely explode from the impact. Oh, and there was Vegeta too.

The prince made a large dent in the roof once he crash landed on it, and was about to tear through, before Goku grabbed Bulma, "We're about to jump, come on Tights follow us! We have to blow this joint!"

Tights turned her head and saw no problem with this, and jumped out of the moving plane along with Goku and her sister. Before she lunged out of the aircraft, she grabbed the parachutes that Goku didn't even think of before throwing himself out to splat against the ground like a bug.

She strapped it onto her back and leapt out of the hover craft, freefalling at a fast rate. The woman extended her hand outward and called toward Goku, "Grab my hand, kid!" Goku did as he was told, and didn't loosen his grip on Bulma one bit. Their hands were held together, and Tights felt a wave of relief wash over her body. "Thank god, I couldn't live knowing you two had to be cleaned up like dead animals because you jumped out of a MOVING plane from so many feet up."

Goku rolled his eyes, "I just wanted to live."

"By throwing yourself into a suicidal situation?" Tights questioned as she pulled on the parachute, and it shot out to slow their descent to the grounds of Iwagakure. "You're really an idiot, Goku."

"Please don't forget about the **MONSTER** that's trying to kill us," Bulma reminded as she looked off in the distance where the air craft was.

Goku watched closely as the air craft Vegeta was attached to went crashing into the stone face, and instantly went up in flames. The boy looked on with a pained expression, as the chopper soon exploded and sent debris flying everywhere. He covered his eyes from the fiery destruction, "I think he's dead."

No, that would be too easy. The prince of all saiyans didn't go down without a fight, and wouldn't get caught up in something as simple as an explosion. It would take a whole army to take him down, in his own modest opinion, so the chances of Goku and his friends getting victory that easily were slim to none. He rose out of the flames and destruction like a phoenix with an evil grin on his features, fully focused on Goku.

"I'll admit, this is fun," Vegeta slowly floated toward the trio with a smile on his face. It wasn't a pleasant smile, but a smile nonetheless. He had his hands placed on his hips as he got closer to the boy he was trying to maim, "But I can't let it go on for any longer. My time is limited you see, and if I don't have you back with the Tsuchikage by the time the sunrises; that makes me look bad, and I don't want that happenin-"

"WHAT'S YOUR POINT?" Goku yelled out, hate hearing people ramble on and on. Hanging around K made him enjoy silence, and the occasional short conversation here and there. Listening to Vegeta made him want to rip his ears clean off.

"I'm going to kill you to make this go by faster," Vegeta spat out, "and if you ever cut me off again I swear you're going to re-"

"I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU SMALL STUFF, BRING IT!" Goku flipped the Iwagakure faithful off and grinned when he saw the boy getting visibly angry. "Oh yeah, that makes you mad doesn't it?"

"You're going to regret this, Kakarot."

. . .

(Tsuchikage's Office ~ Iwagakure)

Onoki watched from his office, explosions and fire going up all around his village. The saiyans didn't hold back, which brought a smile to his face. The damage would be temporary, but the message he was trying to send would last forever: _Don't mess with Iwagakure_.

He had three new powerhouses as the face of his new and improved army. He would only send them out to do the dirtiest of work, and they'd come back clean. Onoki wasn't even sure how far the extent of their power went, and he had been working with them for up to five years, but he was confident nonetheless.

The old man was now pacing back and forth in his office, since he had seen a Capsule Corporation vehicle harboring the new enemy of Iwagakure, and it didn't help that Dr. Briefs' building had sealed itself off underground. The old doctor was looking a little guilty at this point.

Onoki turned toward his door and motioned for one of his hidden ANBU members to come forth, "Is there a location on Dr. Briefs?"

"No sir, him and his wife have disappeared from Capsule Corporations," The ANBU informed his superior. "Shall we continue the search for him?"

The Tsuchikage solemnly nodded his head and walked out of his office, "Yes, I'll be joining you this time."

A bead of sweat rolled down the ANBU's face under his mask. This must have been serious.

. . .

(Iwagakure)

Despite being severely burned and bloodied, Dr. Briefs sat with his legs crossed while sipping a glass of water. He wiped away at the blood oozing from his forehead and grinned at his wife, "How do I look, honey?"

"Perfect, baby," Mrs. Briefs walked up to the doctor and kissed him on the cheek. She refilled his glass of water with her pitcher and sat across from him at the table he had set up. "I just have one question, why are we running?"

"Oh, Panchy-chan, you knew this day would come," Dr. Briefs set his glass down and placed his hands over Panchy's. She frowned at him, "Tsuchikage-sama's loyalty was always questionable at best, and the moment we didn't feel safe here; we were packing up everything and leaving. I was never one for shinobi's affairs anyway, I'm just a crazy scientist."

"Then where are we going to go, you know he'll come looking for us!" The woman pouted and tightened her grip on her husband's hands. "I can't live my life in worry, honey!"

"As long as you're with me, you have nothing to worry about," Dr. Briefs kissed his wife's soft hands and offered her an assuring smile. She warmed up to him and smiled back, which was all he needed. He got up and walked to the front of the room, where there was a seat built into the ground, "Shidō!"

"Good morning Dr. Briefs!" Shidō yelled back as he activated and came to life. He smiled at the doctor, "I see you've got yourself into a sticky situation!"

The doctor shook his head with a smile, "I've seen worse."

"Are you sure!?" Shidō asked, as the whole room started to flash in red. The AI frowned at the doctor.

Dr. Briefs and his wife were thrown around violently and ended up on top of each other. There were groans of pain and light sob from Panchy Briefs. Things weren't going so well for them today.

"We've crashed!" Shidō announced the obvious, and the doctor helped up his wife who was holding her head now. "The tendril of your underground drill is caught in something! You have to go fix it yourself doctor! I wish I could help!"

"Great."

. . .

(With Nappa, Raditz, and K ~ Iwagakure)

Once the dust cleared from the explosion, there were bits of blood splattered every where around the battlefield. Nappa turned to smile at Raditz, "I knew he wasn't worth the fight."

Before Raditz could even open his mouth, the whole area was swallowed by a blinding light that destroyed the two saiyan's sight of anything. K decided to come out of hiding, speeding across the ground in scant seconds, and delivered powerful kick to Nappa's chest that would have winded any normal warrior in an instant.

The large saiyan was sent tumbling across the ground and crashing into a wall not too far. Raditz's senses were far sharper, and he avoided another powerful punch from K by ducking, and slamming his fist into the man's gut. The man nearly buckled over from Raditz's sheer strength, but held his ground, and once the blinding light of his 'Solar Flare' subsided, they were staring into each others eyes.

Raditz grabbed onto the man's shirt and pulled him into a strong headbutt that made him stumble backward. The young saiyan couldn't fight back his smile, rushing in while he had an opening and kicked the jounin into the sky. He followed K's flying body into the air and charged a blast of energy to throw at the Kumogakure native.

Once they were close enough to each other, K twisted his body in mid air and avoided being hit by the blast. He gained his composure quickly despite being so high in sky, using his wind chakra and the wind currents around him to gain balance. He held his palms out and coated them in his own chakra, shooting out a compressed blast of wind at Raditz, which doubled as enough force to send him flying back toward the ground, and sent the young saiyan flying away from him.

He slowed his landing with the same wind chakra, but he was met by Nappa, who was charging toward him covered in a lightning aura. It crackled wildly and K knew it could mean nothing good. With amazing speed he disappeared from Nappa's view and the man charged right through an after-image of the foreign shinobi.

When he reappeared, he was far away from Nappa; breathing heavily. Raditz crashed landed next to where Nappa was now standing with a wild scowl on his face, and K smirked. "Your control over Iwagakure's natural energy is amazing, to say the least." The man complimented as he got into a fighting stance.

"Ki?" Nappa looked at Raditz, and the boy nodded. "Our bodies live for this stuff, we don't rely on the little amount of chakra our bodies have." The 'little' amount of chakra in Nappa's body stilled dwarfed the common shinobi's. "Most races adapted a long time ago, and passively absorb the natural energy of the universe. You guys are just late to realize that," The large saiyan smiled as he prepared to begin fighting again.

"I see," K mumbled to himself. His knowledge on the newly dubbed ki was vast, and he had more than enough experience using it, but he had learned something new. For their bodies to be able to passively absorb ki must've meant Goku could as well. His usual blank stare had returned to his face, since he had to hide the fact something had clicked in his head. He had just figured out how to beat them.

Nappa and Raditz were about to charge in and fight K, but were frozen in place once his power level spiked beyond what he had shown them already. The man was glowing in a crimson color as his aura shrouded his body for a moment, "What!?" Raditz yelled out, still staring at K's magnificent transformation. "No human is capable of this kind of power!" Raditz wouldn't let his power be dwarfed by a human, so he instantly began powering up to match K's intensity, and Nappa had no choice but to do the same.

Things had finally gotten interesting.

. . .

 _It'll get exciting next time around._ Next Chapter: _Curious_


	16. Curious

_**Curious ~ 16**_

"You're going to regret this, Kakarot," Vegeta's fist trembled while looking toward Goku, Bulma, and Tights. He took a few deep breaths and tightened his fist, remembering that he was supposed to 'love' this village, and not destroy it from one of his blind fits of rage. His eye twitched as he tried to hold in his insanity, "You're _really_ going to regret this."

Goku furrowed his brow and got into a fighting stance, watching Vegeta closely as he did the same. He looked over at Bulma and Tights, "Go find my sensei, please," He mumbled under his breath. The two women scurried away to do as Goku wished, mostly so they wouldn't be caught up in the crossfire from his inevitable fight with Vegeta. "Come on, lil' guy," Goku beckoned the shorter saiyan to make the first move.

Vegeta shot forward with speed Goku couldn't keep up with, and was thrown back by a powerful punch to the face. The smaller saiyan smiled and shook his fist, "I see you're all talk." He jumped into the air so he could pounce on the boy wherever he landed, but as he was about to drop down on Goku's body; the Kumogakure native shot out a fireball that sent Vegeta flying away in the opposite direction.

The Genin cracked a smile as he pushed himself off of the ground, "Nah, this dog's got bite too!" Goku braced himself for Vegeta once more, more acclimated with his speed this time. He mentally took note how durable Vegeta was, considering that his clothes were burnt, but he wasn't really hurt from the point blank attack. His enemy came flying in and threw another punch that he blocked with his forearm, and caught the next fist with his free hand.

The two pushed back and forth in their power struggle, and it was surprisingly equal. Vegeta grit his teeth and Goku smirked at the boy. Goku knew that Vegeta took him to be a weakling, and decided to surprise him again by smashing his head against the prince's. The boy tumbled across the ground while Goku tried to think on what to do next on the fly.

Vegeta leapt off of the ground and balled up his fist, "You damn rat, you have no real skill, just cheap tricks!" He let a devilish grin creep onto his face, "But if that's the game you want to play, then we'll play." Vegeta stomped his foot against the ground and pieces of Earth flew up from the impact. He punched at newly created debris and turned them into flying projectiles as they shot at Goku with amazing speed.

The boy ducked and roll out of the way from the blocks of Earth being thrown at him. Goku drew a kunai from his equipment and coated it in his own chakra, while running and avoiding the projectiles. He moved in a zigzag pattern as he closed the distance between him and Vegeta, the kunai in his hand burst into flames, and he stabbed at the boy's face.

Vegeta grabbed Goku's forearm and guided the kunai away from his head, removing it from the boy's grasp. He grinned, "You fight like one of them, it's sad!" With his free hand, he formed a single seal of confrontation and kneaded his chakra. Goku struggled to break Vegeta's iron grip, "You don't deserve to be called a saiyan!"

"I didn't ask to be born this way, but as long as I'm a shinobi I'm going to embrace it, so fuck you!" Goku spat out at Vegeta and grit his teeth. He hit a sensitive point, "My family are shinobi, I was brought up to be one, and I trained like one, so of course I'm going to be full of cheap tricks and explosives. It's in my blood!"

"You don't know a damn thing about your own heritage! Your parents were full blooded saiyans that sent their weakling of a baby to Earth before their home planet was destroyed. You're nothing but a misplaced child who can't remember where he came from," Vegeta explained to the boy he was still struggling to topple over. Their stalemate felt like it was lasting an eternity now, "These tails aren't just for show, they're the evidence of the saiyan blood running through your veins, but of course you wouldn't know that; you're a shinobi, remember?" The Prince couldn't help but laugh at Goku's frustrated expression.

Goku clenched his teeth and tried to hold in a yell of frustration and confusion. A flood gate full of memories from his brief talks with his grandpa Gohan and Mabui about his heritage, and people questioning him about his tail in general opened and started filling his head. He bit his lip, and out of pure instinct grabbed onto Vegeta's leg with his tail. It wrapped around the boy's leg and lifted him off of the ground before Goku flipped forward and slammed the boy into the Earth.

Both boys had to hold in their surprise. Goku's tail had extended in size at will and he was struggling to hold in his excitement, finally activating a kekkei genkai. He knew deep down that his tail could do something cool, and today was the day he discovered that. Vegeta was grabbed by his collar and lifted off of the ground by Goku, "Regardless of who I am, what I am, or where I'm from; I'm still going to kick your ass."

Vegeta's eyes flared for an instant, and shot out beams of energy at Goku's chest; causing an irritating pain that made him drop the prince quickly. Before Goku could tumble to the ground, Vegeta stepped on his tail and laughed once the boy winced in pain. "Funny how the tides turn, isn't it?" He grabbed Goku by his tail and lifted him off of the ground, still smiling while he twirled Goku's kunai in his other hand. The flames had long since subsided, but Vegeta ignited them back to life in mere seconds, "I stand by what I said, _you don't deserve to be called a saiyan_." Vegeta slashed quickly and severed his tail from his body, and then kicked Goku away.

Goku's body slammed into a wall and he limply fell to the ground, face planting in the dirt. He was in immense pain, placing a hand where his tail used to be, and nearly fainted when all he felt was blood. The boy slammed his fist against the ground repeatedly as he tried to fight back the pain, "What the fuck is wrong with you!?" He bit his lip and pushed himself to a stand, "You're the worst kind of person! You talk too much, and you take whatever bullshit pride you have too seriously!"

"Without our pride we are nothing," Vegeta said with a soft smile, while holding up Goku's tail for him to see. He dangled it playfully before dropping to the ground and stepping on it, "You have nothing to pride yourself on, and that's why you're weak. There's no real confidence, or even skill to back up your smart mouth, which will end up getting you ki-"

"What's your point?" Goku cut Vegeta off while grinning, knowing the Prince would get angry. He flipped backward and stuck to the wall before Vegeta smashed into where he once stood with his fist. Goku back pedaled up the length of the wall, flew through hand seals, and shot out a blast of fire that engulfed the entire area Vegeta was in.

He had just learned how to use elemental chakra but it was paying off quite well for him. The boy took a few deep breaths after the sudden attack and smiled, he would make sure Vegeta paid the price for cutting off his tail. Vegeta had been blasted at point blank range by Goku's strongest fire 'jutsu' he had ever made, and still didn't have a name for it.

Vegeta had been blown across the ground and smashed into the face of a stone wall, his body having multiple burns all over. His breathing was ragged after being caught in the brunt of the explosion, "I don't think I've hated anyone more than this idiot," and that was quite the statement, because Vegeta hated _everybody_.

He dropped himself down to the ground and landed on his feet. The prince dusted his destroyed clothing off as if it were nothing and stood up straight to look at Goku. He couldn't help the slight scowl from appearing, and Goku smiled back.

"Ready to call it quits, I've got more where that came from!" He yelled across their battlefield with a smile.

Vegeta simply shook his head and promptly after, Goku took the offensive. He lunged himself off of the wall, flying through hand seals all the while, and prepared another blast of fire for an unmoving Vegeta. The boy stared at Goku with no fear in his eyes and watched as he flew towards him.

Already flying at Vegeta at full speed, Goku had no choice but to go through with his plan, and shot out multiple blasts of fire balls at the prince.

If his jutsu didn't connect, he would have still been flying at Vegeta for the meanest headbutt the shinobi world has ever seen, but he flew right through where Vegeta once stood. The actual boy appeared behind him, already floating, and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"Surprise," Vegeta said jokingly before tossing Goku into the air with great strength and following after his body quickly. He grabbed him by the collar once more before he could fall to the ground. "I've had my fun, Kakarot, I really have, but I think this fight is done."

"It's not over until I say it's over!" Goku was about to make another attempt to free himself but Vegeta cocked his arm back and threw the boy as far as he could. His body crashed into one of higher caves that surrounded the village, and it began to collapse in on itself.

"You're right," Vegeta playfully placed a hand over his forehead to block the light from the sun, and to see just how far he had thrown Goku. "And I think it's over." Vegeta grinned, knowing that almost no one could survive a throw like that.

Now all he had to do is confirm his kill.

. . .

(Iwagakure ~ With Nappa, Raditz, and K)

K cracked his neck and took a deep breath, getting into a calm fighting stance. Raditz and Nappa were trying to match his level of power, and surprisingly; Raditz was the one that came closer to him than Nappa. His eyes scanned the boy over once more and simply blinked afterward. He knew never to judge a book by its cover.

He furrowed his brow as Nappa and Raditz took off with great speed, appearing before him and throwing punches at him, which he narrowly avoided. His strength, speed, and senses were increased a great deal by Kaio-ken, but the saiyans were on another level. They worked together seamlessly, and coordinated their attacks to the point that K could only dodge.

The man parried their blows with both of his forearms, taking another deep breath, and exhaled a blast of wind that blew both of the saiyans off of their feet. He jumped away from them and held his palms outward, and instantly created a vacuum of wind that started to drag the two saiyans out of the sky gradually.

Nappa yelled out in frustration, but heard nothing come out of his mouth as the breath was literally ripped from his throat. He looked over at Raditz with wide eyes as his face was turning blue, and the boy had already known to hold his breath. He grasped at his throat and tried to breath but it was a futile.

Raditz was the smarter one out of the two and unloaded all of his weapons into the vicious wind vacuum. The vacuum ended in an instant and Nappa nearly choked over. He filled his lungs with fresh air and Raditz did the same after holding his for so long, "You damn human, you aren't good for anything but tricks." K nodded his head in agreement and Raditz nearly growled. He clenched his fist and held himself back, knowing that engaging K up front wasn't going to end well, he was too wily.

Nappa was angry though, so he shot out of the sky and tried to smash K with raw impact, but the man was much faster than he appeared. He flipped backwards and shot a blast of wind that sent Nappa flying away much quicker than he had came down.

K skidded to a stop and his head shot up toward Raditz, who was currently the source of a pink beam of ki that was ripping through the ground, and unfortunately for K; coming for him. He grit his teeth as he jumped out of the way of the beam, but fell into a finely planned trap from the two saiyans. Nappa connected a nearly jaw-breaking punch to K's face that sent him crashing through the base of a building.

His whole body ached as he struggled to push himself up from the debris, but was pinned down by a large slab of rock. Nappa and Raditz blocked the newly created hole, and both of them slyly smiled at the trapped K. They looked at each other before they held their glowing hands up and aimed them at the foreign shinobi. Despite being in the face of death, K looked completely calm, and sent them a blank stare in return.

Raditz yelled, "Die!" Both saiyans illuminated the room with their blasts of ki and tried to wipe K off the face of the Earth. Both of the aliens posing as shinobi were instantly blown back by a powerful gust of wind that kept flying out in a continuous stream. Nappa and Raditz were struggling to gain their composure through it all.

"If only it was that easy," K emerged from the hole with his hand still held out, and blowing the saiyans away. The crimson aura that was shrouding his body before had subsided, and the normal color of his skin returned. However, a small crimson flame was burning on his forehead, and his onyx colored eyes had shifted to a brown-ish red color. His stoic expression remained as he let his hand fall to his side, satisfied by seeing Nappa and Raditz pressed against the wall like bugs. "I figured it out, ki, that is."

K wiggled his fingers while looking at his hands, he felt more power coursing through his veins than he ever did in his life. He always acknowledged ki and chakra as two separate entities, but never thought of mixing his two sets of reserves together. The result was amazing, and he was just scratching the surface of what he was capable of. His hands balled up into fists and his eyes moved to the two saiyans that were regaining their bearings.

Raditz had fallen on to his knees, looking up at K with nothing but hate in his eyes. There was a slight hint of fear as well, but he did a great job masking it, "How much power are you holding back?" He asked honestly, gritting his teeth as K took a few steps forward, and he truly felt how powerful he had become. His raw power skyrocketed past what it once was and nearly dwarfed his own.

"I'd rather not say," K launched himself off of his right foot and disappeared from their view. He reappeared in an instant, smashing his fist into the wall he had pinned the aliens against, but they were fast enough to move out of the way, and the building he punched into began to cave in. He turned his body to see them floating in the air, staring at the destruction he had caused in silent awe. "You're quite different from your brother."

"Now you acknowledge the fact that you know my brother, Kakarot?" Raditz raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yes, his name is Goku," K stated dryly as his eyes slowly shifted away from Raditz to where he thought Goku to be. Usually Goku made his presence known when they were separated by getting into a idiotic predicament, but since his fight with the saiyans had begun; he couldn't really feel the boy's energy drawing him in. He closed his eyes and sighed, "He's very foolish, I don't think you would like him."

"That is my only remaining blood family, I don't think I'd mind," He mustered up the most sincere smile he could despite how bad he wanted to kill K. Raditz did truly want to reunite with his younger brother, but there were of course obstacles. "I just want him to live the life I know he deserves."

"I see," K nodded solemnly and smirked.

All eyes were suddenly drawn to the mountainous surroundings of Iwagakure feeling an ominous aura creeping over the area. For it to reach them where they stood, must've meant that it was a great amount of malicious energy in the actual cave.

During K's moment of distraction Nappa lunged himself forward and tried blindside the shinobi, but his eyes snapped back quickly and he held his hand out toward Nappa. It immediately began to crackle with black electricity that looked animated, he threw himself at Nappa and thrusted the hand coated in lightning through the saiyan's chest. He held it there as Nappa fell over on him, and he shifted his gaze up to a still floating Raditz.

On the other side of Nappa's back was K's bloodied hand, still crackling with electricity. Him and Raditz locked eyes and for once the young saiyan actually felt a chill run up his spine, "You and your friend are very strong," He complimented as he ripped his hand out of Nappa's chest. K sent the now lifeless body of Nappa tumbling across the ground with a simple kick. "But what he has in strength, he lacks in intelligence." K flicked his hand of the blood of his enemy, "You had a better chance defeating me together, now you have to do it alone."

"It's nothing I can't handle, I'm a saiyan."

. . .

(Iwagakure ~ Cave with Bulma and Tights)

Tights had her eye in the scope of a long, white ray gun, that had blue lights running all across it. There was a red beam shooting out from the top barrel and she smiled once she had locked onto her target, "Time to rid ourselves of this kid forever, nobody can survive a clean head shot; alien or not." Her red beam was on the back of Vegeta's head, who was floating in the air idly while staring into the mouth of another cave.

"So let me get this straight, you're a secret agent for the legendary sannin, Jiraiya?" Bulma asked, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"Yes I am." Her finger twitched slightly, waiting for the right moment to shoot.

"And Goku, that kid, and his friends are all aliens?"

"Yes they are."

"And not only that, there are more aliens living here on Earth?" Bulma questioned with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Hundreds of them," Tights frowned, "And some of them are smuggling alien technology onto Earth and trying to sell them for profit. Weapons, vehicles, and everything else you can think of. That's why Onoki is working so closely with those kids and their sensei, they know where to get this stuff, and he's building his military up by the day."

Bulma felt uneasy, pushing herself off of the wall and walking up to the edge of the cave they were in. She watched Vegeta closely, "Are they trying to start a war or something?"

"Eventually, but at the rate he's moving; I think he's trying to take over the world. War is inevitable," Tights pulled the trigger and a compressed blast of energy flew across the sky instead of a beam, but it narrowly missed Vegeta. He had taken off just as quickly as he had come, and flew into a cave.

Tights sucked her teeth and got up from the ground and dusted her clothes off. She looked at Bulma and gestured out of the cave.

"We're moving closer?"

Tights simply nodded, "Yeah, he went into that cave."

. . .

(With Vegeta and Goku ~ Cave)

Vegeta stepped into the mouth of the cave with a sly grin on his face. He looked around for Goku's dead body, but only saw a massive amount of fallen rocks. The boy clapped his hands together, not feeling Goku's energy in the cave at all. He felt like a giddy child, and now all he had to do was fetch the boy's body.

He took a few steps deeper into the cave and suddenly fell onto the ground. Vegeta looked back and discovered his feet had been tied together by ninja wire. He looked up and saw Goku grinning on a small platform above him, holding a set of wires in each hand, "What the!?"

"Surprise!" Goku yelled out, and suddenly a large slab of rock dropped onto Vegeta's body and pinned him down. He couldn't hold back his laughs, "I'll admit, you're pretty strong, but you're about as smart as a rock, get it?" Goku raised a brow, as a clone of the boy dropped down after the slab had fallen with a grin. The two copies of Goku fist bumped each other, and then dispelled themselves.

Vegeta wasn't badly injured and Goku knew that, the rock weighed a lot, but it was just enough to keep the saiyan down. He grit his teeth, slamming his fist against the ground, "Damn you, Kakarot, you'll pay for this!" Vegeta repeatedly slammed his fist against the ground to the point that it was breaking. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Remember how I said this fight wasn't over until I said it was over?" Goku was now walking away from the pinned down saiyan with a smile on his face. He turned his body slightly, standing in the entrance of the cave, "I think it's over." Goku reached into his pocket and pulled out a black capsule, he held it carefully.

"It's never over, Kakarot!"

"Bye dude," Goku pressed the top of the capsule and threw it into the mouth of the cave. He knew a slab of rock wouldn't keep Vegeta down long enough for him to escape, so blowing the cave to next week would probably do the job. Once he tossed it, he immediately ran out and jumped; not realizing how far of a drop it was to the ground.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reaching for another capsule in his pocket, and hoped that it held something useful. Before he could even toss out another capsule, a mechanical bird swooped in and saved him from the fall. He had never been so happy in his life and it immediately took him to Bulma and Tights, who were standing in the mouth of another cave.

The landing wasn't smooth at all, and the bird simply tossed him onto the ground, and he went tumbling across the stone floor. His body hit the wall awkwardly and let out a pained groan, "I thought that thing was going to save my ass, not break it!"

"You're alive aren't you?" Tights asked with an irritated tone of voice.

"Yeah, but-"

"Be grateful," Bulma chimed in and smiled, happy to see Goku alive.

"What happened to the kid you were fighting?" Tights looked back at the cave, and noticed he had yet to come out and chase down Goku.

"I pinned him down in the cave and threw a bomb in there after that," Goku said coolly as he got up off of the ground, rubbing his back soothingly. Bulma and Tights looked at him with worried expressions, and he simply shrugged.

"Well where's the explosion?" Bulma slowly asked Goku, and almost as if on cue; the bomb went off and rocked the whole area. The trio was thrown onto the ground, and the cave across from them had gone up in a blaze of fiery destruction.

Debris and boulders rolled down the side of the caves and started an instant rock slide that would lead down to the village. If the Tsuchikage was mad before; he would definitely be infuriated now that Goku had caused even more destruction in his village. Both of the women looked at the boy with their jaws hanging.

He pulled on the collar of his shirt and smiled awkwardly, "Oops."

. . .

 _K just upped the ante and mixed ki with chakra, Goku blew up a cave, and it seems like our favorite Kumo-nin are going to live to see another day._ Next Chapter: _A True Saiyan_


	17. A True Saiyan

_**A True Saiyan ~ 17**_

They were the strongest force in all of Tsuchi no Kuni. They handled all of his dirtiest work and came back to the village spotless. It had been that way for years, they were surprisingly good for a group of kids, and Onoki loved them for that reason. Normally he didn't like the younger generation of shinobi, but they were a different breed, and he watched their current battle with glee.

He had a perfect view from where he stood outside, and his eyes lit up like a little kid watching all of fighters go back and forth. The Kumogakure faithful were being thrown around like a children, and that was exactly what he wanted. The man snickered, turning away from the violence to continue to look for what he had left his office for.

The man was roaming the grounds that once housed Capsule Corps, but there was nothing left of it. He didn't expect anything less than a mind as great as Dr. Briefs, he had disappeared without a trace. Onoki sighed and stroked his beard, he knew the moment he showed his fangs to the doctor he'd run away, and all he could do is shake his head.

A masked ANBU member appeared behind Onoki and got down on one knee instantly, the older man turned around and looked down at the shinobi. He raised his brow at the sudden appearance, "What is it?" The masked shinobi looked up at him and remained silent. Onoki's face tensed up and he clenched his teeth, moving closer to his subordinate and frowned, "Out with it."

"We've lost the trail we had on Dr. Briefs," He said hesitantly and lowered his head. The ANBU member ran his hand through the dirt, "We did however find the Capsule Corps building."

"Where?"

The ANBU stabbed his finger into the ground, "He buried it," he brought himself to stand, "It's getting deeper, but we assume it has stopping point. We're working to get somebody in there as we speak."

Onoki nodded his head, "Good, get back to work." The ANBU member disappeared just as quickly as he had came, and that left Onoki standing in the newly created wasteland that once was Capsule Corps. Apparently the doctor buried it under the ground, but it wasn't something he hadn't dealt with before in his many years as a ninja.

He knew his shinobi would break in by the time the day was over, so he decided to continue with his search of the actual doctor, so he could try and convince the man to come back to the village. He would much rather have him as an ally than an enemy.

However, finding a man as intelligent as Dr. Briefs was proving to be no easy task. He was too smart to be a man of habit, or at least let off the fact that he had any other than smoking cigarettes. He didn't know anything about the man, where he was from, or if he had any family outside of Iwagakure, so his next move was extremely hard to predict.

All he _could_ do is keep sensors posted around the village trying to find him. He was working his way away from the Capsule Corps. property and started going back toward the village. As he walked, he suddenly tripped over a rock and face planted in the dirt. He was spitting out loose pebbles and mud out of his mouth as he pushed himself back up, and there was a sharp pain in his back, "Agh! Damn these roads!"

"Is that really you old man?" A voice sounded out from behind Onoki, which made his head snap back in that direction to see who it was. A fairly tall and slim man stood there with a grin, he had his hands stuffed in his pockets. He had long black hair, and his eyes were covered by a cloth he had tied around his head. "I never thought you would come and play in the field with us kids."

Onoki nearly strangled the man, but he held back his anger and slowly stood up. He decided to float to make it easier on his back, "Yes, because you young ones are full of tricks, and I don't like games," He complained with a roll of his eyes, not that the man before him would even notice. "I hope you came with good news, Jun."

The man nodded and took a few cautious steps forward, "Yup, I've been added to your task force, old man." He laughed to himself for a bit, "Actually I added myself, I loved seeing the lower level sensors squirm for a while."

The Tsuchikage groaned, "You would have been useful about an hour ago, now the doctor has gotten away." He stared at Jun and was quietly irritated by the man's calm expression, despite how serious things were in Iwagakure right now.

"No he hasn't," Jun corrected quickly and made the old man even madder by being outsmarted like that. A small smile crossed his face as he walked up to Onoki and patted him on the head, "In fact, he's been right under your nose this whole time, old man. You looked every where except under the ground, I guess being six feet deep is the last thing you have on your mind right now."

"Take me to him right now," Onoki said in his deadliest tone, getting an ever bigger smile out of Jun.

"As you wish, old man."

. . .

(Outskirts of Iwagakure ~ With Bulma, Goku, and Tights)

Goku never thought he'd be wrapping up his own back side because he lost his tail, but here he was. The boy used a lot of bandages just to be sure, since he wasn't exactly the best medic. He didn't even seem to notice the two women that were awkwardly staring at him while he had his pants down. Once he finished, he pulled his pants up and smiled to himself.

The three of them had long since moved from the cave, and were now moving on the actual ground. Ever since the explosion sounded, there hadn't been any more attacks on them, or any ninja lurking around the area. The ones that were didn't seem to be looking for them.

The boy outstretched his arms and yawned, "Ok, let's keep moving." He said smoothly, still adjusting his pants.

"Ok, quick question," Bulma spoke up and stepped up to Goku with a raised a brow. "Where is your tail?"

Goku poked his butt out and looked at it, "Oh yeah, I lost it," He looked up and smiled awkwardly. He didn't necessarily know how to explain it when he had it, and now that it was gone; he still couldn't. He figured life would get a bit easier in that aspect though, even if it would take some getting used to.

"Okay..." Bulma wasn't satisfied with the answer, but she wasn't going to pester him about it. They had to make an escape anyway, so she could worry about her younger companion later on life, for now she had to focus on keeping it.

Tights rested her ray gun on her shoulder and pointed toward the village, "Our best bet is taking the scenic route, there are too many shinobi out here searching for something. We've done a good job avoiding them so far," She gestured her head in that direction as well, and was about to walk off, but she couldn't help but notice that Goku and Bulma stood still. "What?"

"I'm not leaving without K," Goku stated flatly, gesturing back toward where they came from.

"Neither am I," Bulma smiled and nodded at Goku.

"I think he's going to be completely fine without us, he's a capable ninja," she had heard about many of his endeavors. Tights simply turned away and walked off without them. Hopefully they would follow, "Well good luck, kids, I'm getting the hell out of here."

With every step she took, she heard nothing. They were serious when they said they weren't leaving without the famed shinobi in tow. She quietly groaned and tried to push herself to just continue on, hoping they would give in and follow, but she knew they were too stubborn to do that.

After ten minutes of walking, she turned around and returned to the two teenagers and frowned when she saw them sitting on the ground.

"Rock!"

"Paper!"

"Scissors!"

"Shoot!" Goku and Bulma threw out their hands, the genin having scissors, and Bulma was unfortunate enough to have paper. She groaned and folded her arms over her chest and Goku grinned from cheek to cheek.

"What are you two doing, I thought you were going to find Goku's sensei?" Tights placed her hands on her hips and furrowed her brow at them.

"We were waiting on you to come back," Goku admitted honestly as he got up off of the ground. "We weren't going to do it without you."

Tights rolled her eyes, mentally mad that she came back, and for being that predictable. She shut her eyes and walked past them both, back in the direction they had come from. "Well, let's go, kids."

"Actually," Bulma said as he got off the ground herself and placed her hands on her hips. She frowned, "I'd rather not go back in that direction now."

"What, why?" Goku nudged her side and frowned.

"Well what do you kids want to do!?" Tights threw her hands to her side and groaned. First they wanted to go back for Goku's sensei, and now they were undecided. She herself wanted to get out of Iwagakure for good, but they were making it extremely hard for her.

There was nothing but silence and she was confused, she was about to open her mouth to yell at them again, and she suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. She could see why they were completely silent, and she slowly turned her body to see just what was causing this horrible sensation.

The woman looked up and saw a large brown hand reach out of the cave, the arm of it was covered with brown fur. It had a thick killing intent, and she couldn't help but feel like it was focused on them. Her eyes were still wide, and she turned back to look at Goku. He was in as much awe as she was.

"No way, this can't be happening," Goku took a step back and fell onto his butt, "This can't be real." A bead of sweat rolled down his head and he started breathing heavily. He tried shaking his head rapidly, pinching himself, and shutting his eyes; but the feeling in his gut told him that what he was experiencing was real.

"What's wrong, Goku?" Bulma kneeled down and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I used to have these crazy dreams," Goku said as he placed his hands on his head and took a deep breath. He looked up at the cave and grit his teeth, "There was this monster that would terrorize and destroy everything in its path."

"Seriously?" Tights asked with a raised brow.

Another oversized hand ripped the small mouth of the cave wide open, the red eyes of the beast were the first thing the trio saw, before it fully stuck its head out and beared its fangs. It let out a deafening roar and made their hearts race. A devilish grin appeared on the creature's face afterward, like it could smell their fear, and it was enjoying every second of it.

"Maybe it doesn't see us!" Bulma offered optimistically.

Any semblance of hope was crushed once the eyes of the large ape focused solely on Goku from the top of the cave. It cracked a smile and opened its mouth, natural energy was slowly being drawn in from the area and concentrating within its maw. The trio's eyes widened as they watched the monster charge up his attack.

"I think it sees us," Goku sighed.

Tights grabbed Bulma and Goku already knew what was going on. They scrambled and took off in different directions, so they wouldn't be torn apart by the purple beam of energy that suddenly ripped through the ground and destroyed everything in its path. The beam didn't let up, and the ape turned its head so it could focus fully on Goku now.

It tore through the ground and chased after the surprisingly fast and wily Goku. It was about to catch him, but before he could be tripped up and fall; someone swooped in and saved him. The boy knew it to be none other than K, but when he looked up; the man seemed different. There was a self-sustaining crimson flame on his forehead.

Once they were safe, he instantly dropped Goku to the ground and looked up at the cave. His calm expression never left his face, even when the ape pushed itself out of the cave and lunged at him and Goku. He looked down on the boy and stared at him, "What happened?" He asked with the little time he had to speak with the boy.

"Does this really need an explanation?" Goku questioned back as he jumped up and shrieked when he saw an oversized ape flying toward them.

K sighed, "Don't be foolish, Goku." The wave of malicious aura and debris flying past him didn't change his demeanor at all, despite his panicking student. The ape grinned at the duo and he stared blankly back at it, "Hello." He pushed Goku forward and the boy stumbled, "This is the one you want, isn't it?"

Goku shot a look at K that had 'what the fuck' written all over it, but he was speechless. The Ape laughed, "Oh, yes, definitely!" The monster had finally spoken, and Goku was even more shocked when he heard that it sounded like Vegeta. The giant ape smashed his fist into his open palm, "He's going to pay for his foolish actions against the Prince of All Saiyans!"

The word foolish was starting to haunt him. Goku looked up at K, "What are we going to do?"

Raditz landed on Vegeta's shoulder with a smile, "You could run, brother," the saiyan laughed while he watched Goku's face twist in horror. "Or you could join forces with us, and help us take over this planet." Even though they were in a vicious fight to death mere moments ago, he had no problem offering his ally a spot in world domination.

"The real question, Goku," K said slowly, placing a hand on top of the boy's head. "Is what are _you_ going to do?"

This day had been more than stressful for Goku. He had been told that he was from a completely different planet, had another family, and his flesh brother was supposedly standing right before him; giving him a chance to work with him. It rattled his brain to an extent, and he wasn't one hundred percent sure how to respond.

He always wondered about his real family, and what he would do if he met them, but he didn't expect them to be power-hungry aliens, so that changed things completely. The boy grit his teeth and stared at Raditz, who seemed to be waiting on his answer and shook his head, "I could never leave Grandpa Gohan and mom behind in Kumogakure." He instantly got into a fighting position, ready to take on whatever the saiyans would throw at him.

K nodded, remembering that he didn't tell Goku that his adoptive grandfather was dead. Now was definitely not the time, "We're going to run." He said lowly and got a pair of wide eyes locking onto him, and he didn't seem to care. K was going to stand by what he said.

While the duo was talking, Vegeta had been gathering natural energy. His fists were pressed against each other and his eyes were closed. Raditz would be his look out for the time being, and everyone around him was surprised by his sudden increase in power. The ground itself began to crack and rocks began to levitate as he reached a new level of awareness.

The jounin turned and looked at Tights and Bulma, who were not too far behind them. He could tell Tights was an experienced woman, so it only took a nod for them to communicate what they were going to do. He grabbed Goku, not willing to stay and see what kind of power the great ape form granted Vegeta.

Before any move could be made, all four of them were thrown around violently by an invisible force once Vegeta opened his eyes. His pupil was more defined now, they dilated slightly, but returned to normal when he gained control over the new found power. He grinned, "Not so fast!" Even in his great ape form, he was still a skilled shinobi, and he flew through hand seals with relative ease. He held it on the last seal, " **You're not going anywhere!** "

Vegeta took a deep breath and when he exhaled, a giant ball of fire swallowed the whole area and burned everything to a crisp. The appearance of the land had been completely altered, charred rocks and ground, but there were no dead bodies to go along with it. Before the smoke could clear, a blinding light was the counter to fire ball, and the duo of saiyan's vision was obscured.

. . .

(Underground Iwagakure ~ With The Briefs)

Everyone had their respective vices, and for Dr. Briefs it was the terrible habit of smoking cigarettes. However, when you have to live a life as stressful as his; maybe you would understand. He always promised his wife he'd quit, but something always came up, and here he was sparking another cigarette to ease his mind.

During his well thought out escape of Iwagakure, he drilled through the village's underground, and planned on drilling his way to the next town. He didn't fly over the village because sensors and snipers would work together to bring him down in a matter of seconds. This was supposed to be the best way, so when Shidō announced that he had crashed; he was a little more than surprised.

Him and his wife Panchy sat against the wall plotting their next move, and she rested her head against his shoulder. They had been sitting there for the better part of an hour and they hadn't made any progress. She closed her eyes and trusted everything to her husband, knowing he was way too intelligent to let something as small as this to stop them.

They had long since gotten used to the loud alarm and flashing red lights. Shidō was working on figuring out what they crashed into. His system came to life and his face appeared on the screen, "Good morning!" The couple looked over to Shidō and he simply smiled, "I have indentified what we crashed into, Doctor!"

His old eyes lit up, "What is it, Shidō?"

" _Scientific Name For Gold_ , and a whole lot of it!" Shidō exclaimed and a digital image of the gold appeared on the screen. He grinned, "If you weren't already rich, I'd tell you you were going to be rich!" Shidō joked and both he and the doctor burst out into laughter.

Dr. Briefs smiled and went to sit in the operator's chair. He typed in a few commands, "Well, if we work together Shidō, we can increase the rotation speed and power of the drill, and possibly keep on moving!" He was like a giddy child at the thought.

"That is true doctor, but the overall strength of the drill will be weakened by the end of it!" He explained to the genius doctor, "While we might get through the ore of gold, the time it would take to reach Tobaku will increase by three hours!"

The doctor nodded and continued typing in commands, "That's a small price to pay, now isn't it?" He clicked one last button, and the sound of the drill coming back to life filled the room. He turned in his chair and smiled at his wife, she came and sat in his lap; kissing him on the cheek.

The drill kept getting louder, and they could feel it moving forward through the ore of gold. They were now back on track to escaping the village they once called home. Dr. Briefs and Panchy had no problem abandoning the shinobi lifestyle they were slowing being sucked into.

"Bad news doctor!" Shidō suddenly yelled out and got the couple's attention. He frowned at them and his face started disengrating on the screen, "Good night!" He completely disappeared from their view and they both looked shocked.

The drill had stopped, Shidō had been turned off, and that meant the system was shut down. The doctor was going to continue trying to reactive his system, but a blue screen popped up in place of what he was accustomed to, and he placed his hand over his head. He let out a deep sigh and got up from his seat.

"Dr. Briefs, you're too old to play games like this," A voice sounded out from outside the drill.

"Oh, I know," Dr. Briefs said to himself and had no choice but to walk over to the ladder in the room. He opened the hatch and looked outside, sighing when he saw who was out there. The doctor crawled out of high powered drill, and easily jumped from the top onto the ground. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a few cautious steps forward.

Onoki floated before him with a frown on his face, standing next to him was Jun; who was grinning. He folded his arms and shook his head, "Trying to run away I see, doctor," Onoki shut his eyes and sighed. "This is high treason, trying to escape with confidential information."

Panchy crawled out of the hatch and dropped down the ladder. She stormed across the ground and got directly in Onoki's face, poking the man in his chest, "Now you listen here, you're not going to attack my family and expect us to sit here and cooperate!" She furrowed her brow, "We don't feel safe in Iwagakure, so we're leaving!"

"What she said," Dr. Briefs agreed with his wife, but still pulled her away from one of the most powerful men in Tsuchi no Kuni. "You compromised our trust, sending that kid out there to raid my building and take Goku." He placed his hand around his wife's waist to hold her back, his other hand still shoved in his pocket.

"I see, so you're not coming back?" Onoki asked calmly, with a slightly raised brow, and the couple firmly nodded. He nodded as well and looked at Jun, "Ok, we have nothing more to discuss then." He held up his hands and a three-diemensional cube began to form between his palms. It was taking time to build up, but Dr. Briefs and Panchy were no fighters, so this would be simple for him.

"So we were this expendable to you?" Dr. Briefs asked while sighing.

"I don't believe in keeping loose ends," Onoki stated dryly and shot out the cube at the couple, and slowly smirked. His dust release would disintegrate anything on a molecular level, so he knew someone as harmless as Dr. Briefs and his wife wouldn't make it out alive. He turned his back on the couple, so he couldn't see their saddened expressions, and he floated away.

Jun couldn't see what had transpired, but he felt it in his gut and frowned a bit. The Briefs seemed like good people, so for Onoki to get rid of them like that was harsh in his opinion. His smile returned to his face quickly though, "So that's how you're going to handle it, quick and clean?"

Onoki shrugged, "Yup."

. . .

Next Chapter: _National Treasure_


	18. National Treasure

_**National Treasure ~ 18**_

 _One Week Later_

"Get the gas," The man ordered as he paced back and forth across the floor of the warehouse. This was supposed to be an easy job, yet he felt like he had overstayed his welcome. He was going to come in and get what he wanted, and then leave. After this day was over, it would mark a whole week he would be stationed in this village, and it wasn't fun. "He doesn't want to talk, so I have to make him, un."

There were only two other people in the warehouse with him, one man was wrapped up completely in bandages, and had only his onyx eyes visible. He wore a navy coat over his bandaged body with no shirt underneath and a pair of navy pants to match. The man went and got what his superior wanted, bringing back a red container full of gasoline, "Don't make a mess, Deidara," He handed it over to him and the blonde smiled back.

"Please, it doesn't have to be this way!" The man tied up to the chair pleaded and dropped his head to hide his quiet sobs. His black hair looked messy, and he had cuts and bruises all on his face. Getting him into the chair was no easy task, but his morale was broken a long time ago. "I beg of you!"

Deidara raised a brow, "Are you going to tell me what I want to know?" The silence that followed was all the response Deidara needed, and he didn't hesitate to pour the whole gallon of gasoline onto the man's body. His subordinate handed him a simple box of matches and he smiled, "Last chance, un." Every moment that the man didn't say something, Deidara moved the match across the box, and finally it set on fire after a few seconds of silence.

"These people are stubborn," The bandaged man leaned against a pillar within the warehouse and folded his arms over each other. He didn't seem disturbed when Deidara threw the match on the man and his body went up in flames. The smell of burning flesh filled his nose and he rolled his eyes, "Who do we talk to next?"

"I don't know, at this rate I'm probably going to end up killing the whole village, un," Deidara complained and walked up to the bandaged man. The two men were completely unaffected by the man screaming at the top of his lungs right behind them, "Why the hell am I doing this?" He asked to himself and sighed.

"Because Kakuzu pays pretty well," The bandaged man reminded him and smiled. He patted Deidara on the back, "Don't worry, kid, you'll get the right clue and we'll be out of here in no time."

"You better hope so, un," Deidara turned and looked at the burning man, watching until he finally stopped screaming. Once it was over, he pondered on what to do next, while he walked up to the burnt body of the man, and kicked him over in the chair so he wouldn't have to look him in his eyes any longer.

"Boss," Deidara's head turned in the direction of the voice. It was a teenage boy with tan skin, freckles, and jet black hair, tied up neatly into a small up-ward bun. His stale expression always made Deidara feel a bit uncomfortable, "There's a group of travelers requesting entrance into the village, they want to pass through so they can continue on to Kumogakure."

"Are they with those other guys?" Deidara perked up and smiled, but the boy shook his head, and he promptly frowned. "Fuck it, let them inside, un." The blonde haired shinobi pouted and turned his back on the boy. He returned to the dead body, and nudged the body with his foot to get it out of the chair. Deidara kicked the man's corpse like a soccer ball and it landed perfectly in a pile of other bodies that were mutilated in different ways. He had to hold back the feeling of wanting to say 'goal.'

"At what point do you realize that this isn't an effective way to get answers?" The bandaged man asked, watching the pile of dead bodies grow larger as the days went by.

" _Pepper_ go and get the next hostage!" Deidara pointed at the teenage boy and he sighed. The boy walked off to do what was requested and the leader of this small operation turned to face the bandaged man. "I have one last person of interest I want to talk to, if it doesn't lead anywhere; then I'll stop."

The bandaged man grunted and rolled his eyes.

"Now start being useful and go handle our other problems, un!" Deidara yelled out and his subordinate reluctantly complied, walking off mumbling curses under his breath. "I want this town cleaned up by the morning, I'm trying to get the hell out of here!"

. . .

(Unknown Village)

The trio of shinobi jumped from the roof tops in a high speed chase. They were hot on the tail of a single man who was running away from a crime scene, a building that was up in flames not too far behind them. They had been assigned this mission not too far from their home village, along with another group, so they could weed out a group of terrorists, and drive them out of the small town.

He bounced along the roof tops with ease, flipping backward and landing on the ground smoothly. The bandaged man was slightly unsettled when he saw another duo of shinobi ready for him once he landed in the street. He groaned to himself, and promptly after the trio that was chasing him cut off the other side of the street.

"You're under arrest!" Chi-Chi yelled out at the man and got nothing in response.

The bandaged man looked around, there were three genin, and two jounin. He knew in an all out fight he could probably win, but an all out battle isn't what he wanted or needed right now. His assignment was to handle their problem, which was the Kumogakure shinobi, and clean the town of any traces of his group, so blowing it to smithereens probably wasn't the best idea.

"Just surrender already," N groaned, pulling on the draw strings of his hoodie. He stepped forward without any fear and tried to reason with the terrorist. Ever since the genin from Kumo had been sent out on this mission, N had shown just show how skilled and confident he was in his abilities. If there was an alpha in the group, it was probably him, "You're surrounded with no way out."

A man who looked entirely too old to still be a shinobi pushed up his red sunglasses. He smiled, "N is right, there's no way out for you!"

"Maybe you're right," The bandaged man sighed to himself and suddenly ripped his arm out of socket, then threw it into the air. It burst into millions of smaller pieces and landed all over the place. He formed a tiger seal with his only hand, "Kat-" A razor sharp fuuma shuriken was thrown from behind him and severed his head cleanly. It rolled onto the ground and the whole group let out a collective sigh of relief.

On the roof of a building not too far stood Krillin with a grin on his face, "Sorry I'm late." He jumped down and joined the two genin teams, smacking N on the back. "How come you didn't do something sooner, Kiri?"

N groaned, "Because we needed him for information." He didn't seem too mad about it, still lazily pulling on the draw strings of his sweatshirt. The boy walked up to the body and kicked it idly, quirking his brow. "This is weird."

N's teammate, a girl with pale blond hair hesitated to speak up, "N, how come there's no blood coming out of the corpse?" Everyone turned their attention to her and she blushed lightly. She didn't really enjoy being the center of attention. The girl shyed away from the sudden attention and looked to N to say something in her stead.

"I don't really know," N mumbled, kicking the corpse hard in the chest this time and furrowed his brow.

Krillin focused and his eyes widened, "Wait, do you guys hear that?"

The old man raised a brow, "Hear what?" His jaw dropped when he picked up on what his student was mentioning, and he grabbed Chi-Chi off of the ground. All of the shinobi present scattered from the street, and all of the small bits from the bandaged man's arm exploded, as well as his body. They all retreated to different roof tops and watched the street they were on cautiously.

On the ground, the man's body began to reform from all of the bits from the explosion. He leapt from the ground and onto a roof top of his own, placing his hands inside his pockets. He rolled his neck and looked around at all of the Kumogakure ninja scattered across buildings. "I won't really get anything out of killing all of you," He admitted smoothly and walked across the roof top. "I just need a tad bit of information, and then I'll leave this town for good."

N's sensei was a man with straight blonde hair that was tied into a fish-tail braid. His brown eyes tensed up while he focused on the bandaged man, "Why should we help you?"

"Because my boss has interrogated and killed like twenty people, and I don't think he's going to slow down until someone says something," The bandaged man informed the group of shinobi. His eyes looked through the Kumogakure shinobi, and he sighed, "So unless you want more blood shed, I suggest you come out with the information, because I honestly think it's stupid."

"What exactly do you want to know?" N asked with a hint of curiousity in his voice.

"Where are the **Gemstones of Kaminari No Kuni***? They're worth some money I hear," The man questioned the whole group, hoping to get some sort of clue, so he could finally leave the wretched town, and Deidara could stop killing random people trying to pry information away from them.

"You're destroying this town looking for _rocks_?" Chi-Chi hissed through her teeth and tried to hold back her anger.

"If I were looking for rocks, I would've said rocks, but I said gemstones," The bandaged man corrected and rolled his eyes at Chi-Chi. "They're worth a lot of money, and my employer likes money. It's pretty simple to understand if you ask me, but no one wants to tell us where to find them."

"They must be worth something to this village then," N mostly said to himself, making a mental note. He ran a hand through his blonde locks, that was braided like his senseis, but his face was framed by bangs. The orphan started to slowly shake his head, "We've never heard of them though, sorry." He sincerely apologized, because had they known; they would have been successful in their mission of getting the terrorist to leave.

"At least you're honest, kid." The bandaged man complimented and received a simple nod from N. He shrugged shortly after that, "I got what I wanted, so I'm going to leave now."

"If only it were that easy," The old man laughed to himself and got into a fighting stance. "We still have a job to do, isn't that right, kids?"

"Yes, Master Roshi!" All of them yelled out obediently and got into a fighting position. N's sensei groaned and had no choice but to follow suit. He didn't respect 'Master Roshi' like the children did, because he only knew him to be an old pervert, but apparently he talked himself up to make himself look good in the eyes of the kids.

"Seriously?" He asked the crowd and sighed. After a simple roll of his eyes, the bandaged man burst into small bits once more and they all scattered from the building. There was no way he was going to get caught up in a senseless battle with Kumo-nin. They were left standing there trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"That's the weirdest kekkei genkai I've ever seen," Chi-Chi muttered while scratching her head.

"It's not humanly possible to divide yourself up like that," N spoke up and looked at where the enemy once stood. He took a few steps forward and tried to see if any remnants of the man were left, "Either he's not real, or he's some type of monster."

"And we let him get away," Krillin groaned.

"No, guys, wait!" N pointed his finger toward the streets, "I think I see him right there, he didn't get far!"

. . .

(Unknown Village)

Bulma dragged herself through the streets of the town, groaning with each step. Her, K, and Goku had barely avoided being burnt alive by Vegeta's firestorm. Her arms were wrapped in bandages and she had a visible burn on her face that wasn't as severe.

Her sister Tights was wearing a cast on her broken left arm, and she had her ray gun still resting firmly against her right shoulder. The group opted to stay together after narrowly escaping Iwagakure, and being trailed by multiple Iwa sensors for a whole week. The entire Briefs family were declared criminals in Tsuchi no Kuni, and Goku and K had bounties on their heads for helping them escape.

Goku had the worst of the injures, being badly burnt all over, and was nearly wrapped in bandages from head to toe. The doctors said he would be fine with rest, and he could feel himself slowly recovering. He was walking ahead of everyone else in silence, with his head hung low as he strolled through the streets of the random town.

K seemed to be perfectly fine, walking with the two women as they made their way back toward Kumogakure. He had growned used to, and truly enjoyed the silence among them. Normally Goku would be full of questions for the whole trip, so this was an interesting turn of events.

Bulma sped up and tried to catch the boy, while the two older shinobi stayed behind.

Tights frowned while watching Goku, then turned to the older man, "I can't fucking believe you." She said under her breath, and he caught her comment. The woman furrowed her brow, "Why would you wait this long to tell him his _grandfather_ died?"

"The same reason you haven't told your sister about her father," K stated bluntly, not missing a beat as he walked and talked with Tights. She bit her lip and frowned, which prompted K to press on with his point, "I couldn't distract him from his mission. The mission is over now."

Tights raised a brow, "You don't even feel bad?"

"No, why should I?" K questioned back and continued to walk. Tights stopped and stared at K with cold eyes and he paid her no attention.

"Because he's a little kid, you can't just fuck with hi-" Tights was about to scream at the man at the top of her lungs, but he appeared before her in an instant; pressing her lips together with two fingers and staring intensely into her eyes. She felt a cold bead of sweat roll down the side of her face after locking eyes with him.

"He's a shinobi," was all K muttered and instantly released her lips. Bulma and Goku had almost over heard their conversation, and were now looking back at them. An air of awkwardness followed and he simply motioned for them to come back to him, "There's been a change of plans."

"What is it?" Bulma asked, placing a hand on her hips.

A girl yelled out, "That you're under arrest!"

N was about to get the drop on Goku, but the boy swiftly manuevered and planted his fist into the blonde's gut. He stumbled backward and fell onto his butt, and the rest of the genin appeared; ready to fight, but instantly groaned when they realized who they had just attacked.

Goku still had his trembling fist balled up, "What's the matter with you guys?"

The blonde jumped back up quickly and started pulling on the draw strings of his hoodie, "Heh, didn't know it was you, Goku-kun." He stepped forward and looked the boy up and down, cracking a small smile upon seeing Goku wrapped up in bandages like a mummy. "What the hell happened to you?"

"That's nothing to worry about right now," K chimed in and looked down on N with a serious glance. The younger boy stiffened up when he realized who he was in the presence of, "The real question is why you all are here?"

"A group of terrorists are bullying people for information, so Raikage-sama sent us out to get rid of them," Krillin grinned and rubbed the back of his head, being sort of shy in the presence of K. "It's our first real test as shinobi."

"What kind of information are they looking for?" Bulma asked the bald boy with a curious brow risen.

"They want to know where to find the gemstones of kaminari no kuni," Krillin informed her.

"I've heard of those," Tights spoke up, letting her gun fall down to her side, so she shouldn't worry the rest of the shinobi. She walked into the middle of the crowd, "They're the most precious gemstones in the world, and they're made of the most durable and expensive materials you can find. I read that the man who made them spent decades trying to make them perfect, and they're worth billions of ryo."

N nodded his head and furrowed his brow upon hearing about the gemstones, "So that's why these guys want them so badly... I say we find them ourselves, and use them to negotiate with the terrorist group."

"Honestly, they're probably not even in this country anymore. It would take years to find them," Tights admitted and instantly deflated the three genin who were sent on the mission.

"Well we should get back to our team and help them put out the fire," Chi-Chi reminded N and Krillin, who were dead set on stopping the enemy before anything else.

N pulled on his draw string and rolled his eyes, "Ok, let's go."

Goku had been looking off in the distance the whole conversation, and it drew Krillin's attention. He stepped up, but after receiving one of K's signature glares; he turned around and rejoined his team. The boy would have to speak to his friend at a different time.

Tights walked back and leaned in K's ear, "He's going to hate you forever."

. . .

(Abandoned Warehouse)

 _Pepper_ may have been the smallest between him, Deidara, and the bandaged man, but he was not weak at all. He carried a grown man over his shoulder like a baby, who had bruises and cuts all over his body, and roped tied around his hands and feet. The man's face was concealed by a burlap bag, and the boy threw him into the 'interrogation chair.'

Deidara walked up to the man and then looked back at _Pepper_ , "Good work, un." He patted the boy on top of his head lightly and smiled, and then redirected his attention to his new hostage. The process of someone being tortured and then brought to the interrogation chair was becoming redundant, and he was more than happy to make this the last person.

The boy rolled his eyes, "Thanks, I guess, boss." He yawned lazily and went to find somewhere to sit within the warehouse. Since the bandaged man was out in the field, he had to make sure Deidara didn't over do things with the hostages. Despite Deidara being a few years his senior, he always felt like he played the older brother role in their relationship. "Let's hurry up and get this over with, boss, I'm getting tired."

"You're always tired," Deidara retorted quickly and groaned. He stepped forward to the man and removed the bag covering his face, and nearly jumped back when a pair of cold blue eyes locked onto him. He smiled awkwardly back at the man, throwing the bag onto the ground. Deidara folded his arms over each other and tried to size up the man sitting before him.

He was an older man, evident by his long gray hair, and thick gray mustache. His expression was stoic and it nearly made Deidara shiver a bit. He wore a simple navy blue bandana with a red ribbon insignia stitched into it. All he could bring himself to ask was, "Why?" He looked between Deidara and _Pepper_ with a cold glare, "Nearly beat me to death and drag me out of my home... For what?"

"Hm, it sounds like you didn't want to cooperate," Deidara stroked his chin and smiled at the man. He stepped forward and the two of them met eyes, the sense of fear disappearing from the blonde once he got used to the man. "We've been asking everyone the same question, and no one wants to give us a solid answer. That's why we're doing this."

"That's because somethings are better kept as secrets, and these people understand that." The man sighed and looked away from Deidara. "What exactly do you want to know, that you'd go through all this trouble to find an answer?" He took notice of the large pile of bodies not too far behind him, and the stench wasn't exactly pleasant.

"A good friend of mine wants to know where to find the gemstones of kaminari no kuni," Deidara grinned and poked his finger into the man's chest, "And I did some research so I could help him, and it led me all the way back to you: _Doctor Gero_. You made these stones, so you should know where to find them." The blonde terrorist stood up straight and gestured toward his pile of bodies, "If you don't cooperate, then you can join your whole family of idiots. They at least led me to you."

"You're not wrong, they were idiots," Doctor Gero closed his eye lids and smiled. This made Deidara furrow his brow in frustration, "And you're not exactly wrong when you said I created the magnificent stones you've been searching for, but I have long since lost them. It's been a decade and then some since I've seen them with my own eyes; they've probably changed so much."

 _Pepper_ had been quiet for the most part, letting Deidara do the work, but he had to intervene at this point, "What do you mean they _changed_? They're supposed to be made of the most durable material on Earth, if they changed with time, then what are they even worth?" He questioned, perched on top of a box within the warehouse.

"The word gemstone is simply a metaphor," Doctor Gero chuckled, truly enjoying watching Deidara and Pepper grow even more confused as time went weren't the first people to misunderstand what his gemstones really were, "People have searched high and low for these precious stones, and they never thought to look deeper. They were _my_ gemstones, the most important things I had ever made in my life. They were my creations, my children, and I spent years trying to make them perfect." He burst into laughter, "The 'durable material' you always heard about, it was DNA from the greatest clans that ever existed. They had all the perfect traits, and when you mix them all together you would get the perfect human!"

Deidara grit his teeth and glared at Doctor Gero, "So this whole time, I was looking for rocks, and the gemstones are fucking babies!?" The man had a crazy smile on his face, and he simply nodded in response to Deidara. The blonde shook his head, "Ok, cool, where do I find them, un?"

Doctor Gero groaned, "I told you I lost them, thirteen years ago to be exact, and I haven't seen them since they were infants."

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

A bandit was running through the forests of Hi no Kuni with his arms full of stolen goods. He couldn't hide the grin that was plastered on his face. He had finally done it, "Nobody's going to believe this!" He yelled out, and the moment he chose to celebrate; he tripped over a string of wire that was tied around two trees.

His face was planted in the dirt, spitting out mud and bugs from his mouth. Everything he had in his grasp was across the ground, and when he tried to stand up; he felt the wind being knocked out of his chest. Someone placed their foot on his back, and soon after he heard two kids laughing at his misfortune.

"Didn't make it far, did you, bud?" A girl asked, and he discovered it was her foot on his back. She rolled him over with her foot and smirked at him. Despite it being a simple teenage girl that caught him, he felt like he was scared to death. Her blue eyes looked him over, and then laughed, before running a hand through her blonde hair. "Just give the jewels back to us and you're free to go."

"There's no way I'm giving you these stones, they're worth more than anything in the world!" He yelled out proudly and tried to scramble, but found himself pinned down by a kunai through his shirt. "These are the gemstones of kaminari no kuni! I'd rather die than give these back to you!"

The boy that threw the kunai stepped forward, and adjusted his black bandana-styled forehead protector with a music sign etched into it. He wore a white, black, and gray camo t-shirt with a black longsleeve underneath, and a pair of black shorts. The boy laughed, "Those gemstones are just a myth, they don't exist!"

"You're wrong!" The man stood by what he believed in.

The blonde walked up to the man and kicked him hard in the face, while her twin brother went and examined the stolen goods. He picked up the stones the thief talked about and looked them over, before simply smashing them in his palm and watched as they turned to fine powder. The bandit nearly fainted, and the boy looked at his sister and frowned, "I was right, these aren't worth shit, Lazuli."

"Then this was a waste of time," She responded, shooting a glance at her brother. "You're always playing around, we could've been at home a long time ago." The girl placed her hands on her hips and walked away from the bandit, losing her interest quickly. "Get rid of him and let's go, Lapis."

Lapis nodded, "Yeah, Orochimaru-sama's probably waiting for us anyway."

. . .

 _Sorry for the wait, internet is down at my house._ _Until it's back on I'll do double posts whenever I upload._ Next Chapter: dyNamite


	19. Dynamite

**Dynamite ~ 19**

N was crouched down on the roof top, serving as a look out over the small town while everyone rested. It was night time, and the team's plan was to work in shifts. He chose to work alone for the night, since he needed time to piece together a plan of action for their unwanted guests. His eyes scanned the town repeatedly, hoping to find even the slightest disturbance.

After being stationed on the same roof top for hours and finding nothing, he was starting to lose hope. He sighed and shut his eye lids, preparing for another scan of the small village. He decided to move from the roof top and find another spot, jumping away without any second thought. The boy bounced along the roof tops with ease, landing in the street, and mentally decided to patrol the town on foot.

As he strolled through the village, he couldn't help feel like someone was following him. His head snapped back in the direction he had just come from and stared intently. His eyes narrowed while he searched for anything out of the ordinary, but found nothing.

"You're going to be looking for me all night at this rate."

N leapt backward and immediately threw shuriken at the newcomer, and the bandaged man dodged them with ease. He swiftly maneuvered through the projectiles, his shape shifting to dodge the attacks, and thrust his arm forward. It stretched outward, catching the boy by surprise, and grabbed his throat. The man lifted him into the air, smiling as he did so; evident by his eyes scrunching.

The blonde haired boy clenched his teeth and tried to pry the man's hand off of his neck, "I thought you wouldn't get anything from killing us!" N yelled out after realizing his attempts to free himself were futile. "I don't know anything about the gemstones."

"You're right, I won't get anything from killing you, and I don't plan on killing you," He tilted his head and stared at N. The boy was interesting, and the bandaged man would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by him. He smirked, "But I saw something in you, so I decided to circle back around and find you. Luckily you fell right into my lap, and I think we can help each other out."

The genin was barely choking out words, "How the hell can _you_ help me?"

"I know who you really are, and you know who I really want," The bandaged man explained, releasing N from his iron grip and dropped him onto the ground. His arm retracted to normal size and he folded it over his other arm. He couldn't feel any killing intent from the boy, meaning he had caught his interest, "But I guess I should start by introducing myself, my name is Bali, and I'm an alien." He chuckled when N rolled his eyes at the revelation.

"You seriously think I'd believe something like that?" N questioned, coming to stand with a smirk on his face. He felt calm once the tension in the air disappeared, and when he saw Bali was completely serious, he narrowed his eyes. The boy looked him over once more, "Wait, really?" Something did seem off about Bali, and his abilities were 'out of this world' so to speak.

He simply nodded and smiled at N, pointing his index finger at the boy, "And so are you... to an extent," Bali admitted hesitantly. He didn't like keeping people ignorant, "Well, you're half-alien, and normally I'd be packing you up and sending you off to an inter-galactic prison, but I think you're special." Bali was surprised to see N taking the information calmly, standing there while lazily pulling on the draw strings of his sweatshirt. "Ha, you're a cool kid."

"I have no reason to blow my cool," N admitted in a smooth manner, "But what do you mean inter-galactic prison?"

"I work for the Akatsuki," Bali told the young boy and grinned. "We've been working to capture all the renegade aliens running around on Earth for the last few decades. All they do is bring their other world drama with them, and that's no good for the actual inhabitants of Earth."

N was piecing things together in his brain, and then looked up at Bali with a furrowed a brow, "So my actual parents, you imprisoned them, didn't you?" There was an air of killing intent carried with his words, and he was growing angrier by the second. He could cope with the fact that he was part alien, but the fact that his family had to be destroyed because the actions of others infuriated him to no end.

"No, our race is too wily to ever be captured," Bali laughed to himself. He took a few steps forward and looked down on N, "They're probably somewhere in Kirigakure hiding like they were before."

The half-breed alien nodded his head in understanding, still pulling his draw strings and staring blankly at Bali. He took a deep breath and tried to hold in any anger he had building up. The boy didn't have any reason to be mad at Bali anymore, so he cracked an insincere smile, "So, you helped me out with that information, now how am I supposed to help you?"

"Tell me everything you know about Son Goku," Bali ordered firmly. His original mission given to him by Kakuzu was complete from what he could tell, so now he could continue on with his actual job, which was hunting down runaway aliens, and one had waltzed right into the town he was working in. His senses were much better than Deidara, and Pepper was probably too focused on making sure Deidara wasn't fucking up, so for him to spot Goku before anyone else served as no surprise.

"Why don't you just ask me?" A voice sounded off from a roof top, and both Bali and N looked up to see who it was. Standing there in all of his bandaged glory was Son Goku in the flesh. He removed the bandages from around his head, letting them fall down to the ground slowly, revealing his slightly burned face, and his spiky hair that had been taken out of a ponytail. He was visibly smirking, "I probably shouldn't be doing this, but it's just too good to pass up."

Bali didn't hesitate to thrust his arm forward and try to grab Goku from the roof, but N's loyalty to the boy was evident once he lunged himself out at Bali and tried to tackle him to the ground. The man exploded to bits, and the boy groaned, before jumping off of the ground and onto a roof top. The whole street flared up once the explosion sounded and he shot a glance toward Goku.

"You shouldn't be out here, this is my mission," N said sternly to his fellow genin.

"I decided to take a walk and ended up here," He lied through his teeth, but still managed to smile. It felt good to be around his peers once more and not sulking about his grandfather. It was unlike him, "I didn't plan on stepping in until he said something about me." He protested, but he knew N would give up the argument sooner rather than later, since they were about to fight a high class criminal.

The alien man re-adjusted his coat and groaned, standing on a roof top not too far from Goku and N. He rolled his neck and looked between the two of them, "You're a smart kid, so you know why I want Goku, right?" He asked N with a raised brow.

"Yeah, I figured it out, but that doesn't change the fact that he's my friend," N stood up and looked at Goku, and the two of them nodded at each other. They both braced themselves for the inevitable battle, and Bali was taking his time, cracking his knuckles.

"That's a silly way to think, kid," He leapt from the roof top at break neck speeds, and got to Goku way faster than N would have ever imagined. The man reached his hand out to grab the boy and make a break for it, but an invisible force crashed into his side and exploded; sending him flying across the buildings and crash landing into the street.

N stared at his hand in awe, his previous action was merely him acting on instinct, and it _worked_. The wave of chakra he sent at Bali literally exploded, and he tried to fight back his childish excitement. He jumped from the roof top and swept Goku off of his feet, because he was currently standing there in shock. Apparently the boy was in no condition to try and fight anyone.

His path of escape was cut off suddenly when a large, white clay bird rose up from the ground and none other than Bali stood on top of it with his eyes fixated on him and Goku. The boy groaned and pivoted on his foot and tried to run the other way, bouncing from roof top to roof top with great speed, but found himself cut off by an identical clay bird, but this time Deidara stood on top of it with Pepper in tow.

"So these are the pesky little kids that have been fucking up our plans," Deidara laughed and cracked his knuckles, preparing to beat the two children to a pulp. He was solely focused on N, "I saw what you did back there, that's pretty amazing, un. If I didn't already have Pepper, I would have recruited you to my division."

Pepper looked up at Deidara with a frown, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, he can make stuff blow up with out even touching it, it's beautiful," Deidara complimented despite the major amount of killing intent he had focused on N and Goku.

"This would be a great time for K to make one of his grand entrances," Goku closed his eyes and silently prayed that his sensei would pop up.

No one came to the rescue.

"Fuck life."

. . .

(Abandoned Warehouse)

"Father, you can stop pretending now," A deep voice bellowed through the warehouse, and the doctor's blue eyes locked onto the orange haired adolescent standing before him. Deidara and Pepper 'killed' him and added him to the collection of dead bodies that had created. The doctor pushed himself out of the pile and removed the bloody kunai from his forehead, "That goes for the rest of you as well."

The large boy speaking was quite tall, and had a menacing figure. He almost looked like a monster, with his face having stitches all across it, and his eyes had black irises with yellow pupils. He ran a hand through his messy orange hair, staring intently as a lot of the dead bodies sprung up and started stepping forward.

Doctor Gero dropped the kunai onto the ground, and his wound began to stitch itself back together. He retied his torn bandana around his head and smiled at the boy before him, "Thank you, son," The doctor placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and offered a smile. "I'm glad you came to look for us, I didn't think you'd know where to go."

He bowed respectfully toward his father, "I apologize for taking so long." The man stood up straight and focused on Doctor Gero, "I got sidetracked by the criminals, they're destroying our town, and if we let them continue we'll no longer have a place to call home."

"I understand," Doctor turned to face the rest of his creations and smiled. "That is why we'll take back our home, and get rid of them in the process." He looked through the room and nodded, "Everyone, move out!"

All of his experiments and creations disappeared in a flicker, leaving only him and his son in the warehouse. The boy was still focusing intently on his father's every move, and Doctor Gero could tell that his son was unsettled about something. He simply raised his brow, and that prompted him to speak, "Why am I back in the world of the living?" The boy questioned, looking at his palms now, which were also tightly stitched back together. "I died months ago, why am I here today?"

The Doctor simply grinned, "I summoned your soul back from that realm and sealed it into your body once more," He patted the boy gently. "You're better than ever now, no man shall ever take your life again."

"I can feel this new power coursing through my veins, but I still don't understand why you chose me." He stared at his father once more with a puzzled expression. The boy had found peace in death, so being forcefully summoned back into this realm was quite disturbing to his mind set. "There had to be a better candidate for this."

"There's no one better than my only true son," Doctor Gero complimented as he walked past his child and began moving toward the exit of the warehouse. "Besides, you're the only one capable of retrieving Lapis and Lazuli. They've fallen into the wrong hands."

"Is that my mission?" The doctor's son asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, but for now; let's focus on getting rid of these Akatsuki characters."

. . .

(Elsewhere in Hi no Kuni)

The cloaked man bounced from branch to branch, covering a lot of ground in mere seconds. He didn't even pay attention to what was going behind him. His main focus was escaping, but his pursuers were obviously going to make it complicated for him. He dropped from the trees and landed smoothly on the ground.

Soon after he landed, an explosion sounded above where he once was. When the burning tree limb fell to the ground, he saw that it was covered in explosive tags, and they were still set to go off. He leapt backward and put some distance between him and the branch.

The bombs rocked the area and filled it with smoke, obscuring his vision for the slightest of seconds. A slim figure moved quickly through the smoke screen and tried to punch the cloaked man, but he couldn't connect. The man had disappeared, and the strength behind his punch created a fissure in the ground.

He attempted to get away once more, but a flock of crows appeared from behind different trees and started circling him. The man groaned and dodged the attempts to stab him with their beaks by jumping up and away from them. As he ascended higher, the crows twisted and followed him into the air. He was displaying his own ability to fly, stilling dodging, and knocking various crows out of the air with quick punches.

A white crow moved wistfully through the other birds, its eyes were red with three tomoe, and they were spinning rapidly. The cloaked man was unfortunate enough to make eye contact with it once it passed by his range of vision, and suddenly felt himself freefalling toward the ground. The illusion he was trapped in was constantly changing and it made him nauseous, as he broke through many walls in his never ending descent toward the ground.

The colors were extremely vibrant and constantly shifting. Abstract objects popped out at him and sliced him into pieces with random weapons, strangely shaped hands tried to grab his body parts, but he finally fell into a pit of black fire at the end of his free fall. While his whole body felt like it was burning to a crisp for an eternity, he watched with awe as two giant, white hands swept through the flames with ease and picked up the bits of his body and shook them up between its palms.

The hands threw him back into the air, and his vision was restored. The strange, pulsating colors continued to change and pop out at him, but a giant white figure with long white hair tied into a ponytail was looking up at him, and he discovered that's who threw him into the air. He had constantly rotating sharingan eyes, which were focused on him.

The man took notice of the clouds on the giant figure's cloak, which were simply black outlines on his white clothing. He took a deep breath, which created a giant vacuum of wind that sucked the man into his mouth, and he ended up swallowing him in the process. He tumbled down the giant figure's throat and fell into his stomach, which was filled with more black flames.

He was violently thrown around the figure's stomach and through the flames. The man was immense pain, after being literally cooked, eaten, and now he was being thrown up. He was forced upward and back out the way he came, and was sent flying down toward the 'ground.' Despite the great pain he was in, he finally found some focus, and withdrew a kunai knife from his equipment pouch.

He stabbed into his thigh and bit his lip in pain, but was pleased to see the genjutsu collapsing in on itself. The whole scene faded to white, and slowly transitioned back to the forest they were in. His eyes were filled with greenery, and realized he was still freefalling toward the ground.

The man flipped in mid-air and landed perfectly on a branch, tossing the bloodied kunai to the side. He took a deep breath and jumped off of it, narrowly dodging another powerful punch from the real life, slim, white figure. It moved so fast; he couldn't make it out, and tumbled onto the ground. Once he sprung back up to a stand, a compressed bullet of fire nearly hit him in the face, but he quickly ducked.

"Aw, Itachi-kun, you missed!" A voice cried out from above, dropping down on the ground, and creating a crater upon landing. He had a smile plastered on his face, and his eyes were completely shut. It was the slim, white figure from before; who looked exactly like what the man imagined. He was unnaturally skinny, with short, spiky white hair, distinctive black lines trailing from each side of his mouth, and a white cloak with black cloud outlines. His color slowly started to return to him, and he had fair tan skin, with black hair. The cloak was black with red clouds.

The one known as Itachi was standing in front of the unidentified cloaked man, who was wearing a hood to conceal his identity. He broke away into a flock of crows, "No I didn't." The cloaked man had disappeared as well, and that left Itachi's partner standing there with a confused expression on his face, before he realized what was happening, and scrambled away from the area.

The ball of fire exploded outward and swallowed the whole area in flames. The cloaked man had only used a simple shushin to get away, but he hadn't gotten far. Everything was being caught in the flames, and it was only expanding wider and higher. He tucked and rolled, before leaping up and flying quickly through the air and tried to escape the range of the expanding fire.

He tried to outrun it, but it soon caught him as well and he was nearly burned alive.

Itachi and his partners sat safely at the peak of one of the many trees in the forest. They watched as the fire continued to rise upward, and it was shaped like the tip of a kunai. The Uchiha took a deep breath and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead calmly, as a white crow landed on his shoulder. He furrowed his brow and looked at it, "I thought this was nothing more than an Arlian, why is he so strong?"

"I may have been wrong," The crow's voice was extremely deep. Its sharingan eyes watched as the man emerged from the giant pillar of flames with a burnt cloak, taking notice of the completely armored man. He couldn't make out any other distinctive traits to prove himself wrong, "I won't be able to tell unless we crack his armor."

"Split," Itachi said calmly and they all broke away from the branch and soon after a beam of energy tore through everything in its path. The beam stopped, and the man's hand was still smoking afterward. He looked at his work, seeing a deep crater after he was finished, and nothing left of the forest. The man shifted his gaze and saw what Itachi had caused, burning the other half of the forest to a crisp.

The slim man appeared out of no where and latched onto the other man's back, and threw him into the ground. His body smacked against the ground with a thud, and the slim man landed on him with a lot of force, "Hey, alien-chan!" He pressed even harder and tried to crack the man's armor but couldn't muster enough force to break it, "You're pretty strong for an Arlian!"

The Arlian's head was concealed by a sleek helmet, and he curled upward and smashed his head into his opponent; sending him flying across the forest. The Arlian was freed and he jumped up with quickness, but found himself in the same predicament; avoiding another barrage of attacks from the trio. They worked together seamlessly, and Itachi sent balls of fire in the alien's direction.

He moved swiftly and skillfully while dodging, and saw that the white crow followed up to attack next. It moved though the fire balls with ease and tried to peck at the Arlian's head from different angles, but he was too fast to target.

The crow finally caught him off guard and flew around the Arlian's body, surprising him by extending in size, and shifting into a full length boa snake. It wrapped tightly around his entire body and tried to squeeze the life out of him, but his armor was too durable for it to affect him. Under his helmet his breathing was ragged, but he appeared cool and collected on the outside.

Itachi dropped down and stepped forward to speak with the alien, "You're under arrest," He said sternly, but in a mellow tone. The Uchiha looked him over once more and noticed something strange, "His chakra signature doesn't match any of the Arlians I've encountered. Our information is wrong." He shot a glance to the snake that was holding the alien back.

The slim figure landed next to Itachi and looked up at him with a raised brow, "If he's not an Arlian, then what is he?"

Before the conversation could continue, the ground began to collapse in on itself and turn into mud. All of them except for the wily alien slowly began to sink, and he shook himself free and ascended into the air with great speed. He raised his hands and aimed them at the ground, they slowly illuminated, and he didn't hold back his barrage of ki blasts; intending to kill any and everything that was trapped.

The trio of Akatsuki members had disappeared once the smoke cleared, and the only thing left was Itachi's bloodied hand trying to reach out from under the mud, but it slowly sunk within, and the Earth hardened once more. The alien's head snapped toward the trees, and he finally spoke up, "I told you not to interfere."

"You looked like you were in trouble," another man made himself known, wearing the exact same outfit as the renegade alien. He raised his hands in a placating fashion, "We only came here for you, so I wasn't going to let you die on your personal mission."

The alien dusted himself off and rolled his neck, "I was fine." He scoffed and rolled his eyes behind his helmet, "These Akatsuki guys just don't give up. At this rate, they're going to arrest and deport any connection we have to finding her." He sighed, and his partner came and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry," He offered sincere words and embraced his partner. "You're going to find her, and everything will be okay. For now, let's just focus on that, and not get sidetracked by these Akatsuki guys." The alien looked at the ground he trapped Itachi and his partners under.

"They're starting to become a real problem though," The arlian sighed placed his hand on top of his head. "No runaway alien is going to be safe as long as they're around."

The discussion was cut short when the ground began to flare up, and they had no choice but to both jump away as it exploded upward. Chunks of earth and debris were sent flying everywhere.

"I can't believe this shit…"

. . .

(Unknown Village ~ With Goku & N)

There was no where to run, no one to turn to, and nothing they could do. N and Goku truly believed these were their last moments, and they were both praying for different things. Naturally, N was hoping, and actually thinking of a useful escape plan, while Goku was praying for a decent final meal. Both boys opened their eyes after making their selective wishes and watched as Deidara jumped from the clay bird onto the roof.

N was still holding Goku in his arms until he could sustain himself, and both boys felt their heart drop lower with each step Deidara took. The blonde-haired-bomber had a sly grin on his face, and was nearly radiating a killing intent so thick; the boys could see it. He raised his only visible brow and stopped right before N and Goku, "You're actually worth some money, I hope you know." The terrorist patted Goku on the head, "Your DNA is gonna make the Akatsuki a killing, un."

"That's actually kind of sick," Goku grinned and looked up at N. "How much is he worth?"

Deidara simply shrugged his shoulders and turned his back on the duo of genin. He held his hands up toward Pepper and the boy tossed two pairs of hand cuffs back. The blonde swiveled back around with a wide smile on his face, "Doesn't really matter, his race isn't extinct, but they'll lock him away anyway." He stared the two of them down, not really expecting getting them in hand cuffs without force. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, which one do you two prefer?"

Goku stared at the cuffs long and hard before gritting his teeth, dropping down from N's grasp. He felt a strong sting throughout his whole body, but wanted to at least help N fight, even if they were outnumbered three-to-two. The two boys got into fighting stance, and Deidara rolled his eyes before groaning extremely loud. Goku furrowed his brow, "We're not going down without a fight."

"Don't be idiots, we're too strong for you, kid." Bali reminded them from behind and N turned his head.

Before N or Goku could open their mouth to retort, an orange blur sped through the air and delivered the strongest kick they had ever seen to Deidara, and sent the blonde flying to the other side of town. When he became fully visible, they saw the rough stitching across his body, and his skin was slowly starting to darken. His deep yellow eyes locked onto Goku and N, "You're safe, children, this is my fight from here." He aimed one hand at Bali and the other Pepper on their respective clay birds.

N didn't need to be told twice and quickly grabbed Goku by the collar of his shirt, and the battle ignited from there. Bali attempted to give chase to them, but found himself blown away by a powerful blast of ki, and Pepper got the same treatment. The duo of genin speedily jumped off of the building and started running in the opposite direction.

The boy's skin had completely darkened and his orange hair had grown even messier than it was before. He took a few deep breaths as he got used to the new power he had recently acquired through reincarnation. His attention was brought to the center of the village, where Deidara rose back to the air with an even larger clay creation than before.

Being attacked was one thing to be ashamed about, but a random teenager getting the drop on him definitely ruined what was supposed to be a good day. Thanks to him, Son Goku had escaped with his half-alien friend, and they would probably be long gone by the time he was done fighting this newcomer. He cracked his knuckles and a took a deep breath, "That was really annoying, un," He admitted and dusted his clothing off.

"Your presence in my home village is equally irritating," The boy detached his hand and revealed a cannon within his arm. He furrowed his brow and took aim on Deidara's giant clay creation, firing away a powerful beam, and it landed directly in the stomach of the creature. It tore through it with ease, and he discovered that the creation was full of hundreds of smaller bird-like clay creatures. They all shot through the sky and attached to his body, completely covering him in a matter of seconds.

Deidara couldn't fight his grin, "KATSU!" The explosion that followed rocked the entire area and brought the building the boy was standing on down to its foundation. It collapsed from the explosive force and the newcomer was buried under a pile of debris. The blonde looked around for his teammates, and Bali and Pepper slowly crawled back into view.

Bali had a fresh and bloody hole in the middle of his chest, where his heart should've been, and he appeared to be calm, "That damn kid caught me by surprise." He scoffed and rolled his eyes before fully standing up and stretching out.

Pepper was completely unharmed, but the clay bird he was on had been blown to bits. Pieces of clay were still stuck to his face and he was struggling to get them off. He gave up and sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking over at Deidara, "I think it's time for us to leave, the gemstones obviously aren't here."

"You're right, u—" Deidara's jaw dropped, and everyone's attention was brought back to the collapsed building in the center of the village. A pillar of yellow light erupted from the debris and shook the entire village. The raw power coming from it sent a chill up the terrorist's spine and he grit his teeth, "But I guess we're not done here."

. . .

(Unknown Village)

Through all the madness, an old man was walking calmly through the village with a satisfied smile on his face. People that looked like something out of a sci-fi story were running to join the battle in the center of the village, and he couldn't help but notice the two boys running away from it all.

N shot a glance at the old man and stopped running, "You can't go back there, you need to evacuate." He urged him, but the older man shook his head.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Doctor Gero grinned at the two younger boys. "I did start this after all. I plan on taking control of my town once again and getting rid of the Akatsuki's presence for good." The old man placed his hands behind back and looked up to his son tearing through the town trying to battle Deidara and partners.

"Wait, you started all of this?" Goku asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, I created this little town called Hoseki and everything within it. I'll die to protect it," Doctor Gero kept all of his best experiments in this town and he couldn't afford to lose them. After losing Lapis and Lazuli all those years ago, he couldn't let something of that nature happen again. The doctor looked down on Goku, "And now I suggest you leave before things get messy, I'd hate to see such a promising young saiyan go to waste." The old man walked off calmly and left Goku and N standing there in shock.

Doctor Gero was a complete stranger to him, yet he knew his secret. Other than N, he didn't know who else knew that he was alien, but he was truly starting to question how much of secret it was, and how long it had been kept from him. He furrowed his brow and looked at his comrade, "Yeah, let's get out of here. I'd hate to be caught up in that."

N nodded and Goku took off in the direction of the inn his whole team was staying in. Although he hesitated, he ran off after Goku, but had his eyes locked on Doctor Gero the whole time. He was nothing short of suspicious, and he watched as the old man walked into what had become an all-out war for the village of Hoseki without an ounce of fear in his step.

That man was up to something.

. . .

 _It's lit._


	20. There He Goes

_There He Goes ~_

K looked down on Goku and N with the most calm but disgusted face he could muster. Goku snuck out of the inn to roam around town, N tried to take things into his own hands instead of going to get help, and the whole town had been plunged into an all out war with the three akatsuki members stationed there. He had turned his attention to something else for less than an hour and Hoseki was full of chaos.

N's secret hadn't slipped out, but the fact that Akatsuki was targeting aliens, more specifically Goku was on the forefront, and K was trying to wrap his head around the whole situation. He looked between the two boys and finally locked on N, "Leave." He ordered in his usual monotone voice and the boy went back into the room with the other Kumogakure faithful. K's attention switched to Goku and he furrowed his brow, "Why must you be so foolish, Goku?"

Goku scratched the back of his head and smiled eerily at his sensei. He was mad at the man before, but after thinking things over he settled down, and he was slowly becoming his old self. The boy looked up at the man and then broke away from his cold gaze immediately, "I couldn't stay locked up here in this inn thinking about grandpa, so I thought I'd take a walk."

The black-haired jounin sighed, knowing he had partially created the mess he was in by not telling Goku, but now something ten times more serious was being held over his head. He knew Goku's full heritage and he said nothing, now he was being targeted for it, "And that walk turned into you and N being attacked, how?" He raised his brow and stared at Goku.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, and he slowly turned his head to lock eyes with K once more. He took a deep breath, "So, turns out I'm an alien, and a group of guys want to lock me away and experiment with my DNA." He held up his hand and stared for a moment, before looking back at K with a puzzled expression, "and it seems like I'm the last person on Earth to find this out."

"You're implying that I knew this whole time," K pieced Goku's explanation together and nodded. He sighed, "You're not wrong in your assumption either, but there's a reason I didn't tell you." The man stepped up to Goku and placed a hand on the boy's head. "It's a lot to process, and I wanted you to focus on becoming the best shinobi before anything else."

"That's something I would have loved to know, it would have explained a lot," Goku looked down toward the ground and bit his lip, and then looked up at K with hopeful eyes, "So I have actual parents out there?"

"I've said too much," K removed his hand and walked toward the door. He turned and looked at Goku, "The least I can tell you is, you're an alien, and I can't let you fall into the wrong hands." He pushed open the door and gestured Goku to move out, "Now let's go." The boy walked past K without even looking at him, and the man shut the door behind him.

The room full of jounin and genin students turned to look at Goku and K awkwardly rejoining them. K decided to speak up, "We need to leave Hoseki immediately." The ones who were assigned the mission in the town gasped and he furrowed his brow, "Your mission is over. The citizens of Hoseki have this under control."

"What about all of those freaks running through the streets?" Chi-Chi asked with wide eyes, surely they needed to be handled, or else they would run free through Kaminari no Kuni, and eventually end up on Kumo's doorstep with problems.

"Everything's under control," K reassured and grabbed Goku off of the ground and threw him over his shoulders. "Goku and I will take a separate route, but the mission in Hoseki is over; effective immediately." The duo disappeared in a crackle of electricity and left the whole room in awe.

Chi-Chi was baffled, "Who the hell does he think he is?"

Krillin placed his hand on her shoulder, "Let's just go."

. . .

(Hoseki)

Pepper dashed through the streets and cut corners trying not to be trampled alive by wild experiments. He tucked and rolled out of the way of a literal arm being thrown at him. The boy ran into an alley and placed his back against a wall, his chest was heaving, and the group of experiments continued to run past him in hot pursuit.

He took a deep breath and relaxed a bit, pushing himself off of the wall and peeking his head out of the alley. A chill ran up his spine, making him turn around and stare at the ghastly white woman sitting on top of the dumpster. Her yellow eyes followed his every movement, and he took a step back.

She appeared before him in an instant and walked right through him. Her head was shaven clean and she wore simple white garments, twisting her body to smile at the boy, and then raised her hand into the air, "I found him." She said calmly and nearly every experiment that was chasing him before started to flood back into the street from every direction.

His jaw dropped, as he continued to back away from the growing crowd of enemies. He took a step behind the dumpster and kicked it out into the street, effectively blocking the entrance to the alley, and then it exploded; sending experiments flying in every direction.

Pepper ran up the length of the wall and jumped onto the roof top. He let out a sigh of relief, before that same chilled feeling washed over his body once more, and he looked up to see the same woman standing right in front of him with a smile on her face.

She tilted her head to the side, "Why do you try and run from the inevitable?" Her tone was soft, yet menacing in the same breath. Pepper stumbled backward and she was behind him to catch him before he fell, and held him in her arms, "Your fate has been decided." More of the experiments jumped onto the rooftop surrounded them quickly.

The boy grabbed the woman by the face and squeezed, still not believing she was real, and once he confirmed that; he poured his explosive chakra through his hand. He rolled across rooftop once her head exploded and bits of her brain were sent flying everywhere.

More enemies tried to pounce on him, but he showed himself to be very skilled, and blew them to bits way easier than the woman from before. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to make contact with Pepper had his explosive chakra transferred into them, and experience his wrath.

Soon enough the whole roof was littered with random body parts and bloody bits created by him. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on his head, trying to comprehend what was going on. Even after ending the ghastly white woman's life quite cruelly, he could still feel her presence looming over him and he groaned.

No sooner than when the thought crossed his mind, the same woman floated out of the ground with a sincere smile on her face. She had long, flowing white hair now and basic white garments to match. Her piercing yellow eyes were focused solely on Pepper, "You took my kindness for weakness, child, and for that; I cannot forgive you."

Pepper furrowed his brow, "I killed you, you were dead. This shouldn't be happening," He was more than confused at the moment, looking a woman he knew he killed right in the eyes once more.

"I was never alive to begin with," She smiled softly at Pepper and floated forward and looked him directly in his face. The woman grabbed him by his hand and forcefully pulled him off of the ground so he could fly through the skies of Hoseki with her. They got a wonderful view of all of the widespread destruction coming from Dr. Gero's son and Deidara engaging in battle, "I simply occupy a host body, since I'm really nothing more than a lost soul."

"Gero created you didn't he?" Pepper questioned, holding tight, so he wouldn't fall and splat against the ground.

"Yes, I am artifical soul number zero," She introduced herself, "I like to call myself Hashi, I'm one of Doctor Gero's many experiments, in his long lasting goal to create the perfect being."

"Are the gemstones the perfect beings he was trying to create?" Pepper couldn't help but question, since it was apart of his mission to a certain degree.

"No, far from it, but it's a start toward something great. He wants to create the perfect being from scratch, the gemstones had human bases that he worked from. His main goal, his magnum opus, is a completely living being without any artificial traits," Hashi explained as they flew right out of Hoseki and even deeper into Kaminari no Kuni.

"He pretty much wants to create life, real life at that, and not artificial beings," Pepper concluded, and Hashi nodded. "That's weird, but he can do whatever he wants." The boy released his grip and grinned once the night sky illuminated. Hashi's body bulged uncontrollably and soon exploded against her will, while he fell toward the ground at high speeds.

He tried to gain his bearings in mid-air, knowing it would take Hashi quite some time to find a new host body this far out. Once she became tangible to touch, she was nothing more than a civilian, and he could handle her as such. She probably planned on dropping him in some ravine to die anyway. He flipped in the air, but before he could land; he found himself in the arms of the woman once more.

He was proved wrong, and Hashi had found a brand new host in an instant, "I knew that would happen."

"You don't even feel wrong just wasting lives like this?"

Hashi smiled, "I can occupy anything, dead or alive. I truly am a ghost," They continued to fly farther out and Pepper could feel his heart racing. "Calm down, I'm not going to brutally kill you, child."

"What are you going to do then?"

"Drop you in a ravine."

At least he wasn't wrong again.

. . .

(Hoseki)

Beam after beam tore through the town and the duo of Bali and Deidara were narrowly dodging each one. They broke away from each other and went off in different directions to avoid being shot dead on. The boy's aim was impeccable, and he was only missing by a slim margin.

He furrowed his brow and tried to focus even harder on shooting the two Akatsuki members down. The boy placed his hand over his forearm and narrowed his eyes, making his blasts of ki more compressed like bullets and began firing away. Deidara and Bali were far too wily to be hit though and he eventually stopped trying to battle them long range, reattaching his hand as if it were nothing, and jumped down from the roof top.

Dr. Gero's son walked through the dead silent streets of Hoseki on alert. Deidara and Bali had gone into hiding once he eased up on his assault, and rightfully so. He came to a stop and closed his eyes, letting his energy leak out into the area and pick up any subtle anomalies, but found nothing. The revived warrior opened his eyes and looked into the sky, not even blinking when he saw a giant clay figure dropping down on him from above.

Bali and Deidara were perched on one of Deidara's clay birds not too far away. The blonde cracked a smile and held his fingers on his favorite seal, "That should do it, un." He looked over at Bali, waiting for a nod of agreement to satisfy him, but got a blank stare in response. Deidara rolled his eyes, "Katsu!"

Before the explosion could even sound off, the clay figure was launched high into the air, and then it exploded in the sky. Dr. Gero's son slowly floated into the air with the same stoic expression plastered on his face, and his eyes were undoubtedly locked on Deidara. He didn't have a single scratch on him, "I no longer wish to fight," The boy admitted and looked toward the ground. "It will be nothing but pointless destruction."

Deidara pointed at the boy, "Wait, aren't you Doctor Gero's son, L-"

"My name is Sixteen," The newly dubbed Sixteen corrected before his old name escaped Deidara's lips, "And I'm afraid I cannot help you find my siblings, they were taken away from us quite some time ago."

"Our reason for being here has changed; we want are the aliens that are hiding here," Bali informed Sixteen, hoping he'd ease up on the assault.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that either," Sixteen deflated Bali instantly, "Any business between the Akatsuki and Kumogakure's extraterrestrials will not be settled in Hoseki." He also didn't want to see two promising young shinobi ruined so soon. He lost his life at a young age and he knew they wouldn't be as fortunate as him to receive a second chance.

"I can respe—"

"Fuck that, Bali handle this bastard, and I'll go after Goku, un." Deidara didn't leave any room for argument, and pushed his alien partner off of the clay bird, before he ordered it to take off and leave the two to duke it out without him.

Sixteen calmly watched as the bird fly off, and decided to stay; even though he was fully capable of chasing Deidara down. His eyes shifted to Bali, and the man stumbled to a stand. The boy's complexion began to return to normal, and his deep yellow eyes were now fully focused on the alien standing on the ground before him, "I assume you're smarter than your partner."

Bali sighed, "Yeah."

. . .

(Kaminari no Kuni)

"So my grandpa knew?" Goku asked as he and K ran through the wastelands of Lightning Country.

"Yes."

"Raikage-sama knew?"

"Yes."

"Mabui-chan knew?"

"Yes."

The boy furrowed his brow, "I guess the real question I should be asking is who didn't know!?" He yelled out at the older man running in front of him. Even though they were arguing, they didn't miss a beat on their path back to Kumogakure, but that didn't mean the boy was any less angry, "How could you keep something like this from me!?"

K didn't turn his head to acknowledge the boy, "It was for your own good." He cooed simply and kept moving toward his home village. The other group of Kumogakure-nin was taking a separate path, so the group of alien hunters would have a harder time tracking down Goku. Once they arrived in Kumo, they would have nothing to worry about until they left again. He just couldn't lose his pupil right now.

The aforementioned pupil was angry, confused, and hurt all in the same moment. His whole life, he was lied to about who he was, and the only reason he found out was because of his fight with Vegeta and a maniac group of monsters who want to imprison him and experiment with his DNA. The alien child bit his lip to stop himself from yelling at his sensei anymore.

The two of them would reach Kumogakure before morning, and at least there he knew his mother would give him a proper explanation. As long as his life depended on it, he didn't want to be in the dark any longer. Hopefully, he'd be able to give some insight to N as well, who seemed to be going through a similar predicament.

"You know what, maybe this whole situation isn't that bad," Goku spoke up, grinning at his sensei.

Thoroughly interested now, K turned his head and raised a brow, "Why not?"

"Because now you actually have to teach me something so I can defend myself!" The boy exclaimed and burst out into laughter, feeling like he finally got the best of his sensei. Their whole trip, he hadn't learned anything useful from K, and now it was time for him to actually do his job. "So get ready for the training session of a lifetime."

"You're right," K nodded in agreement. Times were starting to get rough, and it was about time he got his student up to par. "Tomorrow, you learn the Solar Flare."

Goku groaned, "Wow, the solar flare." He said sarcastically, in the most monotone voice he could muster.

"Don't be foolish, Goku."

. . .

(Outskirts of Hoseki)

The pace of the group was slowed down greatly because of an injured Tights and Bulma. If they moved the way they did normally, the duo of sisters would get left in the dust. The six Kumogakure shinobi walked in a formation around Tights and Bulma, and they were all on their toes due to the Akatsuki.

It seemed that Bali, Deidara, and Pepper were occupied with the inhabitants of Hoseki, so they didn't plan on seeing them anytime soon, but that didn't mean they weren't on alert. They walked through the empty lands of Kaminari no Kuni with sharp eyes, which were constantly scanning for a threat. The entire group had varying thoughts as they paced through the land.

N wanted to know more about his history, parents, and why the Akatsuki were so intent on ridding the planet of aliens. Tights and Bulma were thinking about their own parents and where they would go from this point, and the rest of the shinobi were wondering why K was so insistent on leaving Hoseki.

Chi-Chi had her hands on hips as she strolled through the lands of lightning country. Her eyes were focused on everything in front of her, "I haven't been on a lot of missions, but this by far the weirdest mission I've ever been on." She broke the silence among them and offered a light smile.

"I agree," N responded quietly, pulling on his draw-strings as usual. His eyes were glued to the sky as he walked toward the village hidden in the clouds.

"Look on the bright side, kids," Roshi grinned at everyone in the group, "At least we made it out safely, and gained a couple of lovely friends at the end of the day." He lowered his red sunglasses and quirked his eyebrows at Tights, which only got an eye-roll in response.

N's sensei was constantly scratching the back of his head in irritation, but still managed to groan at Roshi. He didn't see why the genin looked up to such a pervert, but he would have to live with it.

Krillin stared at the blonde jounin with a raised brow, "Are you okay?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," He smiled and stuffed his hands in his pockets, so he could he just ignore the itch.

"You've been acting weird since we've left the village, sensei," N looked up at the man and narrowed his eyes to focus on him.

No sooner than when he opened his lips to speak, a clay insect crawled from behind his head and onto his face. He tried to smash it with his hand, but he couldn't react quickly enough. In an instant, blood splattered every where, and the man's head exploded once the word 'Katsu' was heard in ear shot of the group. The headless body stumbled backward and fell to the ground, startling everyone around him.

N wiped the blood and brain matter from his face and quickly snapped his head in the opposite direction, watching as Deidara calmly appeared with his hands stuffed inside his cloak. The blonde haired boy focused on the area in front of the Akatsuki member and then thrust his hands forward, sending a wave of explosive chakra that ignited and expanded, before blowing the terrorist away and into the side of a stone face.

The alien boy's chest was heaving and he looked back at the group of fellow Kumo-nin, "We have to run, he's too strong for any of us to handle!"

Deidara dropped down to the ground without a scratch on his cloak and he grinned at N from afar, "You keep getting more interesting, un!" He complimented as he stepped forward and closed the distance between him and the group of shinobi in an instant. The teenage terrorist lifted his bang and revealed his eye scope, which doubled as a scouter, and looked the group over for himself, "Hey, the kid's not lying. I can take you all on by myself, no problem."

"Just tell us what you want!" Chi-Chi screamed at the blonde.

"Son Goku," Deidara replied simply and grinned when they all, save for N, gasped at his demand. "Give me the location of Son Goku, and no one gets hurt, un." When they all gave him confused looks in response, he sighed. The damned group of Kumogakure shinobi didn't know where the boy was; just what he needed.

"What do you want with Goku?" Tights of all people asked with her arms folded.

"Don't really have time to explain the whole Akatsuki regime, un," Deidara raised his hands to the sky, revealing the tongues that stuck out from his palms. His eyes were now focused on N, who was staring right back at him. "But I can't leave empty handed, so I'm taking the blonde until I get Goku."

"How exactly are you going to do that?" Krillin asked, getting into fighting position with no problem.

"Like this, un," Deidara cracked a devilish smile once they all watched in horror while a giant clay bird flew overhead, dropping a piece of clay shaped like a ball. It hit the ground with a 'thud' proving just how dense it was and everyone present just stared at whatever it was. His bird circled back, sweeping him off of the ground, and he ascended into the air. "Heh, Katsu!"

The group was so frozen in fear; they couldn't bring themselves to move once he uttered his trigger word. The condensed clay bomb created quite the large explosion, and it sent them all flying in different directions with varying instant injuries from the blast. Deidara watched it all happen from above, with a smile on his face.

He fed his hands more clay, and clones of himself formed and leapt from the bird. They all charged at the Kumogakure shinobi and latched onto them. N kicked the clay clone off of him and pushed himself off of the ground, his eyes locked onto the giant bird in the sky, and he held his bloodied hand up, "You're going down." He tried to focus it into a stream of energy, but it backfired, and exploded in mid-air; sending him flying backwards and smashing into the ground.

"Ha, I thought you were good before!" Deidara laughed, as his bird swooped down like it was feasting on it's prey and grabbed N with its talons. It lifted him off of the ground and took off back in the direction of Hoseki. The boy tried to squirm free, but it did nothing but tighten its grip, and he watched as the fiery battle field they created started to get smaller and smaller.

Krillin tried to run after the bird even though he was injured already, but he found himself tackled down by one of Deidara's clay clones. He smashed his fist against the ground and screamed out.

"Katsu!"

. . .

 _Bye N_


	21. 21

_**Twenty One ~**_

Pepper was falling out the sky at an incredibly fast rate, seeing nothing but the ground of the empty lands, and for once; he was actually _praying_ Hashi possessed another body and caught him, but she was nowhere to be found. He couldn't fly, and the boy was watching his whole life flash before his eyes.

In the matter of a blink, his body smacked against the surface of an oversized bird, and he looked up to see Deidara calmly navigating his creation back to Hoseki. He looked behind him and saw an even calmer boy, with clay around his neck, torso, wrists, and legs. Pepper grinned and looked at his older companion, "I see you made a new friend."

"Eh, he's just a consolation prize," The blonde teenager sighed as he turned to look at the downed Pepper. He looked the boy over with a frown, "The hell happened to you, un?" He stepped forward and pulled Pepper up and dusted him off.

"Had to deal with a ghost," Pepper informed his superior with a roll of his eyes, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He looked off to the side to avoid the devilish grin from Deidara, who burst into laughter.

Deidara snickered uncontrollably, "Seriously, a ghost?" He nearly buckled over in laughter but then he snapped up straight, "Wait, then what happened to her?" The blonde looked down on Pepper with a raised brow.

"I blew her head off."

The oldest shinobi placed his hand over his heart and let out a deep breath, "Oh, thank kami," He smiled at Pepper and continued to navigate their flight. Hoseki was starting to become clear to them again, and it was up in smoke from what they had done earlier, but it had settled down since he left.

Apparently Bali wasn't all for violence, since he was clearly seen perched on top of a building awaiting their return. The bird dropped down instinctively before the man and Deidara frowned upon seeing that the man had so willingly surrendered. The man jumped onto the bird without hesitation, "There's no point, kid."

"But I gave you an order," Deidara pressed on sternly, but got a roll of the eyes in response from the bandaged man.

"And I didn't listen," Bali retorted with a snicker to follow. He went and kneeled down to look N in his face, "This isn't Goku." Bali looked back at Deidara with a confused expression on his face. He messed up the boy's hair and pushed him forward, "Deidara, you had one job."

"Trust me, I don't want to be here," N finally spoke up after stumbling forward and furrowed his brow when he found himself in the face of Pepper.

"Don't want you either, but beggars can't be choosers," Deidara rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, his clay creation levitated and flew out of Hoseki in an instant. "I hope I never have to come back here, un." He looked down on the city and its inhabitants and flipped them off as the bird flew.

"Are we dropping this kid off to the boss?" Bali asked with a raised brow.

"No, we're getting those damn gemstones before we go home, un."

. . .

(Kumogakure no Sato)

For the first time in his life, Goku had been trusted to leave the village for weeks, and he had finally made it back home. After all of the things he had been through and learned, he was more than happy to be home. He was ready to confront almost every authority in the village about his true background, and his sensei was currently leading him to the most important man in Kumogakure.

K paced slowly through the village as they made their way toward the Raikage's tower. They had been traveling for almost two weeks back and forth and encountered way more obstacles than expected. Though he would never admit it, he was ready to unwind and finally take a break from his duties as a shinobi of his village.

"How come we traveled separately from the group?" Goku finally asked after they had reached their destination. He thought his sensei was acting weird since his encounter with Bali and Deidara.

"It was the safest option," K stated simply and shot Goku a glance. The older man thought the reason was obvious, but sometimes Goku could be a bit.. slow. Traveling with the other genin of Kumo would have made it way too easy for the Akatsuki to get rid of all of them in one fell swoop and then imprison Goku.

The young alien pre-teen rolled his eyes and continued to stroll behind his sensei. Their next destination was now in sight and the both of them entered the giant building. The boy placed his hands behind his head and yawned as he walked into the tower. He followed his sensei's every footstep until they were right outside A's office, and inside he saw Mabui with the Raikage.

Just as he was about to barge in and speak his mind, K walked in and closed the door behind him. Before the door slid shut, K furrowed his brow and mumbled, "Don't be foolish, Goku." The older man didn't get a chance to see the boy's upset expression because he was immediately looking the most angry man in all of Kaminari no Kuni in the face.

A stood up from his desk and instantly lifted it off of the ground and held it over his head, ready to throw it right at the notorious K, "YOU LET THE DEAL FALL THROUGH!?" He yelled at the man, referring to Iwagakure, and Mabui immediately grabbed onto his arm in an attempt to calm him down. "LET ME GO, HE DESERVES THIS!"

"There are more important details to this story," K tried to cool down the situation in his calmest way possible. A lot had transpired in the short two weeks he had been gone, "Funding Iwagakure's military efforts would be too risky for us, they've gained too much power already." He was pleased to see this news satisfied the man, and there was still more to come. "Iwagakure has two more, well trained, saiyan children living in their village."

"Are they stronger than Goku?" Mabui asked with a bit of worry in her voice. They had spent most of Goku's childhood training him for the inevitable problems he'd face, but they weren't the strictest teachers, and still let him live something of normal life.

"They have much more real experience," K explained and recalled his encounters with the saiyans, "But with the proper tutelage, Goku can surpass them. It's the illegal arms deals that Onoki arranged with Capsule Corporation and Gato Industries that we should look into."

"He has weapons? What kind of weapons?" A asked, his desk still raised above his head just in case K pissed him off before his debriefing was over.

"Weapons that could wipe out a whole village in a matter of seconds, with no chakra required," K showed how small the capsule that held the bomb was with his fingers. "And they're almost unnoticeable before they're set off. He has them by the case load." He explained and then let his hands fall to his sides.

A grit his teeth and dropped his desk back onto the ground, folding his arms over each other and breathing out slowly to calm himself down, "I can't believe I let that old fucker get the upper hand on me in our little race for power." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I want the full details in your report, I have another assignment for you now, K, you're going to Konoha."

K's eyebrow raised in interest, "What about Goku?"

"He's going with you," A stated simply and continued to explain K's new assignment, "It turns out Konoha isn't as innocent as the world makes them out to be, and they won't be forgiven for what they did to us."

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

Naruto's body flew through the field and smacked against the base of a tree, and the boy buckled over and fell to the ground. As he was about to push himself up, his signature katana tore through the air and stabbed into the tree. The boy stood on his hands and gripped the hilt of his sword between his feet and sent it flying back in the direction it came from.

Sasuke dashed across the field at blinding speeds, going straight for Naruto, but the katana being thrown in his path broke his stride. He withdrew a kunai knife quickly and parried the blade into the air, and grabbed it by its handle. The raven-haired Uchiha pointed the tip of the sword at Naruto and beckoned him to come forward.

The blonde-haired genin rolled his neck as he came to a stand and furrowed his brow, "I thought this was supposed to be light," Naruto gestured toward the stab mark in the base of the tree. "You almost took my head off back there!" The boy complained and withdrew a kunai from his own pouch and dashed forward.

The Uchiha met Naruto in the middle of the field and the two clashed, "I don't take anything lightly." Sasuke pushed forward and overpowered Naruto onto the ground, attempting a quick slash downward while he was down, but the boy pushed himself back up in an instant and kicked his legs out.

The sword and kunai in Sasuke's grasp went flying into the air, and Naruto's foot connect with his chin and sent him upward. There was a poof of smoke above him and the katana was actually a Naruto clone in disguise, which kicked the boy back into the ground, and he hit the grassy field with a thud.

Sasuke was quick to regain his bearings and jumped back up to avoid being pinned down by Naruto's clone. Both Naruto's followed up by throwing a quick series of punches and kicks at the opposing genin, but he was swift with his movements.

The Uchiha blocked and parried every strike, finally jumping out of the way of the two Naruto's mid-punch and smirked when they crashed into each other. He walked up to the downed Naruto and grinned and folded his arms, "I think this is done."

The blonde looked up at the red-eyes of Sasuke and rolled his eyes, "You cheated." He said in reference to the active sharingan eyes that flicked off once their spar was declared over. His sparring partner held his hand out and helped Naruto off of the ground, "Next time I'll get you down for real." Naruto's clone poofed out of existence while he dusted himself off.

"Sure you will, dobe," Sasuke said sarcastically and turned his back on Naruto, starting to pace his way off of the field. He wasn't really interested what Naruto planned to do with the rest of his day, but he suddenly felt the ground shifting and he tumbled over and fell.

Naruto looked around and saw off in the distance a tree growing higher than a few others and the greenery start to thicken in a certain area. He shot a glance to Sasuke and they both nodded, but before they could take off to investigate; a poof of smoke in the center of the field caught their attention.

"Yo," Kakashi waved at his two genin students and smiled at them. He placed his hands on his hips and reared his head back, urging his students to come forward. "I've got some good news for you two, I already told Sakura." When the two boys were in front of him, he placed his hands on top of their heads and grinned.

Both Naruto and Sasuke were slightly distracted by the mutation of the forest, but Kakashi wouldn't intrude on their training session unless it was something important. The raven-haired genin grit his teeth and looked up at his sensei, "What is it?"

Kakashi's eyes perked up and he brought his genin into a tight embrace

(Kumogakure no Sato)

Master Roshi had a bead of sweat rolling down his dirtied face, walking slowly with his cane, and the unconscious body of Krillin slung over his shoulder. He was deathly tired and extremely stressed, the simple C-rank mission had turned into a disaster, and they had lost two members of their six-man cell.

Bulma and Tights had joined the group as well, since K refused to let anyone else travel with him and Goku. They were even more exhausted and stressed about what they had been put through in the last week they had been away from home. The two girls hadn't heard from their parents since they escaped Iwagakure, and didn't hear a thing about them either.

Tights knew what really happened, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Bulma the truth since her little sister wasn't accustomed to the shinobi lifestyle, and it would be a major loss in her life. She would know when the time was right.

The group was making their way toward the Raikage tower, so they could debrief about their mission, and find a place for Bulma to stay while she was in Kumogakure. They reached the tower quickly and were slowly approaching the man's office.

When they reached the hallway, Goku came sprinting down toward them, while K slowly walked behind him. He had a huge smile plastered on his face, "Guess what guys!? We're going to the Chuunin Exams!" The boy yelled out with so much excitement, but quickly deflated when he saw how battered they were, and the absence of one of his best friends, "Wait, where's Kiri?"

N's only surviving teammate frowned and nearly broke down, "H-H-H-H-He's go-gone," The girl looked away from Goku's distraught face and bit her lip so the whole group wouldn't see her sobbing.

K furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"

"Those terrorists kidnapped him, what's so hard to understand about that!?" Chi-Chi yelled at the older man with a frustrated expression, "They killed sensei, and nearly blew Krillin-kun to pieces!"

Goku's whole mood changed, simply staring at the group in awe, and his tongue slowly slivered back into his mouth. The news of his entire graduating group being entered into the Chuunin exams didn't seem as exciting as it was anymore, and when the whole hall was filled with silence; the returning group walked past them and continued on to the Raikage's office.

Tights and Bulma still remained there with Goku and K, "Sorry about your friend, kid," The older Briefs sister said, as she placed her hand on top of Goku's head and ruffled his hair. "We're going to get him back home." She slightly smiled and looked at K with a raised brow, "Speaking of home, where will Bulma be staying, K?"

"For now, she'll live with Goku and his mother Mabui," K informed the duo of sisters and walked off, leaving them with Goku so they could handle the new living arrangement. He turned and looked at his student with a serious glare, "Goku, I'll be meeting with you tomorrow." The man disappeared in a crackle of electricity promptly after telling the boy about their plans.

"Bulma, I know we just got here, but I have to leave too," Tights admitted and brought her sister into her embrace. She kissed the girl's forehead and smiled, "I promise I'll be back soon." Tights looked down on Bulma and saw her eyes getting watery, and she tightened the hug, rubbing her sister on her back reassuringly.

"You always do this," Bulma mumbled out and broke away from the embrace. The teenage girl pushed Goku forward, "Let's go, Goku-kun, you're going to show me around town." They both walked off and left Tights alone in the hallway.

"Love you too, Bulma!"

. . .

Mabui was more than happy to offer her home to Goku's new friend Bulma, but neither her nor Goku expected her to escape a village with as much as she did. Their whole house was filled with Bulma's clothes, furniture, and technology her father had created.

What amazed Mabui even more was the fact it was all sealed in tiny capsules, and it looked like she wasn't done unpacking. The woman ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath, "Bulma-chan, why don't you take a break? I'll try to fit all of this into our guest room in the meantime," she said as she picked up a crate full of clothes and walked off.

The blue-haired girl placed her hands on her hips and sighed, "I guess I can take a break, I'm starting to get hungry anyway." She turned to look at a tired Goku, who had been moving her items into her new room for the last few hours. The girl smiled, "Come on, Goku-kun, you're going to buy me something to eat."

Goku dropped his crate of Bulma's emergency clothing and grinned, "Yes, let's go!" His mind hadn't even registered that Bulma said he was paying for her meal, he was just happy to be done moving her stuff, and he had just got paid for his mission, so it wasn't that big of a deal to him.

The boy skipped out of the door and Bulma followed behind him slowly. He was leading her to one of his favorite eateries in Kumogakure, and since he was paying for the meal; he figured he would be able to choose. Bulma followed him blindly the whole way.

They stopped in front of a sushi joint that was surprisingly packed with people, and once they got inside; they saw a lot of younger kunoichis gathered around a woman with blond hair who was quietly eating her meal. She was dressed in her casual clothes, a light purple dress that stopped at her knees and a pair sandals, but she was garnering too much attention to be a normal civilian.

Despite the group of girls surrounding her, her dark eyes spotted Goku in an instant. She set her chopsticks down and got up from her seat and walked up to the genin, and the mixture of children and teenage girls followed her to the front of the restaurant. The woman let a small smile grace her features and bowed toward him, "You must be Son Goku, I've heard a lot about you."

Goku had confusion written all over his face and he simply smiled, "You're right, I am Goku." He scratched his head awkwardly, because he had no idea who she was.

"SHOW SOME RESPECT YOU IDIOT!" A random kunoichi yelled at Goku and hit him in the forehead with a piece of sushi.

The alien boy immediately bowed out of respect toward the completely random woman who was starting the conversation with him. He winced lightly and looked up at the woman who was now smirking at him.

"I'm Yugito Nii," The woman introduced herself and motioned for Goku and Bulma to follow her back to her table. "You probably don't recognize me when I don't have my hair braided, but I'm a ninja just like you." She sat back down inside of her booth and got comfortable once more, picking up her chopsticks.

Goku was still wiping away a sticky piece of rice from his forehead and tried to force a smile, "Well, it's nice to meet you." Bulma elbowed him in his side and he grunted, "And thank you for letting us sit with you." He truly meant it once a waiter came by and set another platter full of sushi down in front of him and Bulma without him having to ask.

Once Yugito was seen engaging Goku in conversation, her loyal fans deflated and started to leave the restaurant. They were talking for quite some time, and she was just trying to pick his brain and get to know more about him. The woman was extremely interested in him, since he was only twelve and found a way to be a bigger target in the ninja world in two weeks than she had in her whole life, "I understand that you're going to be in the Chuunin Exams in a few months, Goku-kun, are you excited?"

He nodded while he had his mouth full of food and grinned, "Definitely, I'm going to kick some serious ass!" The boy yelled out and raised his fist into the air.

Yugito smiled at the boy, "So you wouldn't be against me teaching you something before you left for your exams then, right?" She asked with her chopstick pointed at herself, and a small smile on her face.

"Sure, if K-sensei is okay with it," Goku said in between throwing rolls of sushi into his mouth.

She furrowed her brow when he mentioned 'The Limitless K,' and nearly scoffed, but decided to stay silent. The woman simply nodded, "I see, run it by him then." She stood up and bowed toward Goku and Bulma once more, "This meal is on me, Goku-kun, I hope you consider my offer."

"I will, Yugito-chan," Goku winked at the woman and she walked off. He continued to eat his sushi with Bulma but slowly stopped when he saw her staring at him with squinted eyes and a raised brow. "What?"

"You don't seem at all concerned about N," She spat out and jabbed him in his neck with her chop stick. "Your friends get torn apart and kidnapped and the only thing you're worrying about is sushi and the Chuunin Exams?" Bulma was ashamed of him, because if she could do anything about finding her parents; she would.

Goku shrugged, "K-sensei told me not to worry about it."

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

"Wake the fuck up!"

N opened his eyes and was met with a stern glare from Bali, who was currently standing over him. It had to be something close to noon, and the sun was shining bright over the group of Akatsuki, and their new hostage N. The bandaged man dragged aforementioned boy off of the ground and hoisted him over his shoulder.

"For a hostage, we treat him pretty good, un," Deidara complained as he started to lead his group through a thick forest that was getting more desolate as they traveled.

"He's still family," Bali replied.

"We're not family dude," N scoffed and dropped out of Bali's grasp, he didn't enjoy being carried by an alien. He fell into step with Deidara and started to scan his surroundings, and he had no clue where Deidara had taken him.

"Regardless, you sleep until like noon every day, and eat whatever you want," Pepper tried to make a point along with his teammate. "Don't ever say the Akatsuki didn't treat you well," He said semi-jokingly as he followed behind Deidara.

"What are we doing anyway?" N asked tiredly as he strolled behind the Akatsuki members.

Deidara turned his head slightly and grinned at his newly acquired hostage, "You're about to help us blow up one of Orochimaru's bases." He said as he continued to navigate them toward their destination, "I figured it all out on our way from Hoseki, there's only like one person more fucked up than Doctor Gero out there that would have the gemstones, and it's this damn snake, so we're going to get his attention, un."

N didn't even know who Orochimaru was, but he had a feeling he would be meeting the man today. The boy quietly groaned, "Why the hell do I have to do it?" He asked while pulling on the draw strings of his sweatshirt.

"You're still a fucking prisoner, kid," Bali spat out and pushed him to the front of the group. He placed his hands on his hips and gestured toward the open clearing in front of them, "It's an underground base, you go in, set off the bomb, and get the hell out." The alien instructed and pulled out a small capsule and handed it over, "All you have to do is click it, okay?"

"What if there are people in there?" N immediately asked, "And how do you know this is going to get that guy's attention?" He rolled his eyes and walked back into the group of terrorist with a frustrated expression plastered on his face. "Did you guys even think this throu-"

"You know what? I'll do it," Deidara pushed past N and stormed across the field mumbling incoherent curses under his breath, "Damn kid, un."

Bali shot a glance at N and furrowed his non-visible brows, "You're a special one, I hope you know." He alerted N and laughed a bit, "You're the only person that can piss off Deidara enough to make him do grunt work himself."

"You guys are fucking idiots," N shook his head in disappointment, and his point was backed up once they all turned to see Deidara sprinting back across the field with worry written all over his face. From the entrance of the underground base, the head of a giant snake was quickly slithering out with a sly grin on it's face, "See what I mean?" He asked, pointing at Deidara.

On top of the snake's head was a pale man perched proudly with an even more devilish grin than his summon animal. He had his arms folded over each other, "I knew you three would come looking for me," He looked between Bali, Deidara, Pepper, and finally stopped on N. "I heard about what you people did in Hoseki, and I see you brought me a new friend."

The opposing parties seemed to know each other quite well, save for N, and Bali grinned once the snake himself showed his face. "You were expecting us, that's cute," He raised a brow and took a step forward, "So that means you have what we're looking for then?"

"I'm afraid I do," Orochimaru grinned and let his arms fall to his side, "But I won't let my children go without a fight, Bali. I've made it too far in the grand scheme of things to lose them now," The pale snake-like man got into a fighting stance and readied himself for whatever the group of bombers would throw at him.

"Dude, should we do it?" Pepper asked, looking up at his two superiors, "I mean, we have a four-on-one advantage."

"No, you have a three-on-one advantage," N chimed in as he backed away from the group of Akatsuki members.

"I don't know, Orochimaru never played fair, even in his Akatsuki days," Bali remembered and looked over to the battle ready Orochimaru and frowned. "I doubt Kakuzu wants a pair of fucking kids anyway, he wanted shiny jewels."

"We came all this way though, and their DNA is probably worth some money on the black market," Pepper tried to sway Bali into the dangerous battle with Hi no Kuni's most famous shinobi. "And I'd rather deal with a deadly snake than an upset Kakuzu any day."

"Worst case scenario, Kakuzu rips us a new asshole, and we owe him some money, but with this guy," Bali pointed at Orochimaru while still looking down at Pepper with a furrowed brow, "He'll literally rip you a new asshole and then turn you into one of his fucking experiments, so you tell me which one sounds better?"

"You guys are pitiful," N spoke up and shook his head.

"WAIT A DAMN MINUTE," Deidara finally put his foot down after nearly exploding from anger, "I'm the captain of this damn division, and I make the executive decisions around here, okay?"

"Kid, please, you only have that title to make you feel good," Bali rolled his eyes and decided to hold a vote, "If you want to stay here and fight Orochimaru for some damn kids, raise your hand."

Deidara was the only person to raise his hand, and he immediately pouted after he saw the results of the vote, "Fuck that, we're getting this treasure, un!" He dug his hand into his pouch of clay and started to knead a creation, and once he prepared to send it toward Orochimaru; the clay bird he made detonated prematurely and sent all of the Akatsuki members flying in different directions.

Orochimaru was still standing in silence on top of his summon animal with a slight frown on his face. It looked like ever since he had left the Akatsuki, the organization had gone to shit, and he was oddly pleased to see that. He just watched a group of experienced terrorists bicker with each other and then have their own bomb back fire before it could do any real damage, "Hm, what an interesting turn of events."

N was the most surprised of everyone, and he took their constant fighting and plan failing as an opportunity to escape. He was the least affected by Deidara's dud of a clay creation, and he took off running into the forest to finally be free of the Akatsuki, but as he ran; he felt a chill run up his spine, and he turned his head to see what was behind him.

There was nothing.

His head snapped forward, and in the middle of the forest was a pale white woman floating with a pleased smile on her face. Her bright yellow eyes were locked on none other N, "Hello darling," She greeted and bowed toward the young boy. "My name is Hashi, and I've been waiting to do that for a few days now." Her soft smile never left her face and she floated toward N, "I couldn't let those people send you away."

"Why?" N asked, still quite wary of 'those people' coming to get him once more.

"You're special," Hashi placed her finger tip on N's nose and grinned, "I've been inside Deidara's bag since we left Hoseki with the intention of helping you escape," The woman twisted in the air and started to float away from the underground base. "Now follow me, let's get to safety before they realize you're gone."

The blonde haired orphan shrugged and followed after Hashi, wherever she was leading him. For some reason, he trusted her.

. . .

(Kumogakure no Sato ~ Mabui's House)

Bulma and Goku had long since returned home, and were probably sleep by now. It was the middle of the night, and Mabui was still up rearranging her home to accommodate their newest guest in Bulma. The girl had escaped a village with more clothes than Mabui had ever owned in her whole life. She was happy to have her living with them nonetheless, and continued to move her furniture back to normal.

There was one last box full of Bulma's clothes, so she decided to take it back to the girl while she slept. The woman picked it up and went to the back part of her home, where the guest room was located, and used her backside to open the girl's door.

When she turned around to set the box down, she was surprised to see Bulma sitting on top of her bed with her head buried in her knees. Mabui sat the box down and went over to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her. She had only known her for the better part of a few hours, but it was her job as a mother to make the girl feel welcome.

The girl lifted her head up and was quite surprised to see the brown-skinned woman there to console her. She took a deep breath and sat straight up, "I'm guessing you came in here to see what's wrong, but I'm fine, I promise." She gave Mabui a fake smile, but the woman wasn't buying it.

"You don't have to lie, Bulma," Mabui stared at the girl with a serious expression on her face. "I know you're going through something, and I promise you it feels way better just to get it off your chest."

There was a brief moment of silence between them and Bulma finally let out another deep breath, "I guess I'm just worried about my parents," She would do anything to be back with her family in Iwagakure like it used to be, but to Onoki; her family was just another weapon, and she knew her father would never be okay with that. "I just have this weird feeling in my gut that they're ... gone, and the Tsuchikage was the one that got rid of them, but my sister would never tell me that."

Mabui felt bad for both sides of the situation, from Tights point of view; she could see why she would cover the truth, so her loved one could be happy, she had done it with Goku, but Bulma was obviously worried out of her mind, and deserved to know. The Kumogakure native brought Bulma into her embrace and kissed her on the head, "Your father was an intelligent man, I'm sure he found a way out without being killed."

"You're right," Bulma returned the gesture and hugged Mabui, now smiling at the older woman. She had the motherly touch that she needed in her life at the moment, and she couldn't be any more grateful. The blue-haired Briefs child nudged Mabui, "You know you have to talk to Goku, right?"

The woman sighed and got up from the bed, "Yeah, I know." Mabui looked out of the room and quietly dreaded the walk down the hall she was about to do, "He's told everyone except me about how upset he was, I'm assuming he's waiting for me to come to him with it." Mabui tried to bolster her own confidence, since telling your adoptive alien son the truth about his origin wasn't something she did everyday.

"Good night and good luck, Mabui-sama," Bulma offered a light smile toward the woman, before laying down in her bed and trying to go to sleep.

"Good night, honey," Mabui walked out and closed the door behind her. She took slow steps toward Goku's room, and knocked on his door just as quietly.

Once there was no response, she decided to take the initiative and open it herself. The woman smiled softly when she saw Goku laying on top of the bed sleeping in silence, so she decided leave him alone for the night, and bring up the topic for another time.

The only thing that bothered her was the fact that he was sleeping without a cover, and had his window wide open. That was a garunteed way to make himself sick, so she went into his closet and pulled down one of his many covers, and walked back over to his bed. Just as she was about to tuck him in, the boy twitched and scratched his ass, before turning away from Mabui.

She stared at Goku's backside longer than any normal mother should have, and grit her teeth when she saw his tail wagging happily as he slept. The woman dropped his cover to the ground, closed her eyes, and made a hand seal, "Kai." When she reopened her eyelids, the bed was empty, and Goku was no where to be found.

Her head snapped toward the open window and she couldn't hold in her anger any longer, "GOKU!"

Bulma immediately rushed into the room, but was frozen once she entered when she saw an empty bed, and a more than distraught mother, "What happened?"

"WHERE THE HELL IS GOKU!?"

. . .

(Kumogakure no Sato - Outskirts)

Sneaking out of a maximum security village couldn't be that hard, right? Getting out of his house was pretty easy, so he figured the rest of it would be cake walk. Goku was currently bouncing from roof top to roof top, in his not so well thought out escape from Kumogakure. He couldn't stand by while N was being held hostage any longer.

He pretended not to care the whole day, just to throw everyone off, and now his mission was set into motion. The boy left his house less than hour ago, gathered some materials, created a distraction, and now; what he thought to the be hardest part of his plan was right before him.

The boy knew he had the village's security all drawn to one spot, so slipping out wouldn't be a problem. He approached a quiet road outside of Kumogakure that would lead him back toward the smaller towns, where N had been kidnapped, and he would follow whatever clues he received from there.

For him to leave alone was a gutsy move, but Krillin was in the hospital, and no one else would even support him in such a crazy mission. He didn't know what to expect from it, but he knew one thing; he would come back with N in one peace. The boy had no choice but to hope for the best.

As he strolled back toward Hoseki, he had time to think for himself, and he was enjoying it a lot, but he was drawn back into reality once he heard a woman's voice humming off in the distance. The boy immediately panicked and went to hide behind a rock.

The woman passing by was none other than Yugito Nii, who was singing to herself as she returned to the village from one of her small missions. She didn't seem to notice the hiding Goku, and continued on her way back to Kumogakure.

Goku peeked his head around the rock and saw her walking back toward the village and quietly celebrated, but when he turned his head to face forward; Yugito was staring him right in his face. The boy shot up in an instant and held his hands up in a placating fashion, "How'd you do that!?"

"You're pretty bad at this whole hiding thing," Yugito admitted and stood up straight, looking down on Goku with a slight frown on her face. She stepped out from behind the rock and Goku had no choice but to follow her, "What are you doing outside of the village at this hour?"

"I have to save my friend, he was kidnapped by the Aka.. I don't know their name, but-"

"You don't think the Raikage is handling something as big as that?" Yugito questioned Goku with a furrowed brow. The village knew everything about Goku and N, and wouldn't let anything happen to them as long as they were shinobis in Kumogakure. "We're working on getting N back as we speak, so Goku, just go back home. It's none of your business."

Goku felt obligated to rescue his friend, since he felt guilty about N's capture. Had he never meddled in the Hoseki mission, they would have never settled for N as an alien hostage, and he'd be at home right now, but that's not how things went, "I can't just sit here and wait for him, the Aka.. whatever their name is, want me, and that's what their going to get."

"Don't be foolish," Yugito grabbed Goku by the collar and started dragging him back to the village. "I won't tell anyone what happened here tonight, you just have to do one thing for me."

"What's that?"

"Come stay the night with me, I want to show you something."

. . .

(Konohagakure no Sato - Training Field)

The blonde haired genin sat in front of his katana, which was stabbed into the ground while he meditated. He was struggling to keep his eyes closed and a sound mind with so much going on in his life, but since the Chuunin exams were coming up; he would do any kind of training to get an advantage, and Kakashi suggested the peaceful meditation to him. So far, he wasn't seeing the hype about it.

It was the middle of the night in Konoha, and he was all alone on the training field. Apparently, no one else was as dedicated to improving themselves as he was. He used the peacefulness of the training field as an attempt to clear his mind and get in touch with his 'spiritual' side, but it seemed like things weren't clicking.

No matter how in tune with nature he got, he still heard minor things distracting him from his training. He thought he was completely alone on the field, but he heard things like growling, which made him open his eyes; thinking there was a wild animal right in front of him, and he was only slightly wrong.

He was sitting in the warm water of a sewer, and was unfortunate enough to be looking the most dangerous beast in all of his history right in the face. The giant fox was still resting, but once Naruto stood up; his demonic red eyes snapped open and locked onto Naruto. The Kyuubi no Yoko frowned, "You?" He voiced his distaste for the young shinobi quite simply, "Who do I owe the displeasure for this visit?"

"Trust me, I don't want to be here either," Naruto grabbed the hilt of his inherited blade and held it firmly, since the malicious aura coming from the tailed-beast did a little more than worry him. "I don't know how I got here to tell the truth."

"You probably came to leach some of my power," The Kyuubi smirked, "You only come to me when you're in danger anyway."

"I don't need your power," Naruto said confidently and pointed his thumb at his chest. "I'm strong with or without you, fox!"

"Are you sure about that?" The Kyuubi couldn't hold back his devilish grin, "The only reason you've lived through half of your battles are because of me. Whenever you need that extra push, you always call on me. Whenever you need to be healed, you always call on me." The giant fox rested its head between its arms and closed his eyes, "But I'm guessing you never noticed, you're just as ungrateful as the rest of them."

Naruto stared at his open palm and started to realize how fast he could recover, or simply over power a stronger opponent when he needed to, "Maybe you're right," Naruto balled up his fist and furrowed his brow, "But that doesn't mean I need you. I didn't ask for you to be sealed in my gut."

"I know I'm right," The fox snappily replied and decided to ignore Naruto for the rest of his visit. He had nothing more to say to his host, since he knew their encounter wasn't going anywhere.

"Look here fox," Naruto held up his katana and pointed it at his oversized tenant living in his stomach. Unconsciously, he and the senju blade started to glow a bright yellow, and the boy grinned as he started to float within his mind scape. "As long you're going to be living with me, you're going to treat me with respect, and pay your portion of the rent." A beam of yellow light connect with the Kyuubi's forehead, and before Naruto knew it; his mindscape was illuminated in a bright light that he couldn't see through.

He was returned to the training field, but it had gone through an extreme makeover. Naruto's mind couldn't register anything that was going on, from his mindscape, and now he was sitting in the middle of a newly created forest. He was surrounded by weird looking trees, and a wooden hand reached out and tried to grab him by the arm.

"Naruto-nii!"

. . .


	22. The Hub

_**The Hub ~**_

Goku didn't know what to expect when Yugito started leading him through the whole village. To any normal person, it would have seemed like she was lost, but she appeared to know where she was going. Since he didn't want any more trouble on his head, he kept his mouth closed and let her do whatever it is she was doing.

The woman was walking with confidence, and in the short amount of time they were together; she had led Goku through parts of Kumogakure he had never seen before. Similar to his trip to Iwagakure, he was seeing brand new technology he had never come across, and everything was quite foreign to him. However, Yugito knew everything about it.

They stepped into a very low-key building that immediately led to a descending flight of stairs. Yugito opened the door that was at the bottom of the stair case, and revealed a room that was full of different looking creatures wearing lab coats, standard shinobi attire, or basic civilian clothes.

Before Goku could take another step forward, he was cut off by a fairly large, and quite green man with an unapproving look on his face, "Yugito, who is this?" He asked, pointing at Goku, who was new to this location, and wasn't to see it. He had strong facial features and strange antennas on his head, and his dark eyes were fixated on Goku. "We don't allow visitors here."

"Calm down, Band, this is Goku," She explained and he still didn't appear to be pleased. Yugito groaned and brought Goku to her side, "Or as you would know him, GA-734." The woman bit her lip and instantly regretted revealing his project name, because the boy looked up at her with an upset expression, but it gave her clearance to bring him into the secret building.

Band stepped out of the way and eased up, "Welcome to The Hub, 734, I almost didn't recognize you without your tail." He offered a green hand and Goku accepted is hastily, "I hope you find your stay fulfilling." The large man turned on his heel, leaving Yugito and Goku to handle their business.

She instantly turned to smile at Goku, bowing in a respectful manner, "I apologize for that, Goku-kun." Yugito stood up straight and signaled for him to follow her through the underground base, meant for research and experimentation that might better Kumogakure. They passed a lot of things on their way to what she wanted to show to her guest, "There's something I think you deserve to see, since you've been through so much these past few weeks."

Goku was far too distracted to even hear what Yugito was saying as he blindly followed her. With every step, he was crossing paths with an alien creature and it amazed him to no end. His legs were leading him and his eyes were all over the place, but he was slowly halted when he bumped into an imposing figure that he couldn't put a name to.

Yugito was frozen in place, turning her head slightly to see Goku stuck in the middle of a criminal transport. A man was heavily cuffed, with chains draping all over him, and surrounded by multiple men. His piercing yellow eyes locked onto Goku and nearly lashed out at the boy as he was being forcefully dragged across the ground.

The boy felt like he was stuck in time, there was something about the man standing before him. He didn't feel safe for the first time in his life and he backed away.

"I'm going to kill every last one of you! You're all abominations and don't deserve to ruin our plane-" The man was forcefully dragged out of Goku's way and the room was brought to silence after the man's tantrum, since a majority of The Hub's inhabitant were alien.

"Don't listen to him, Goku, he's sick, and we're going to help him," Yugito held her hand out toward the shocked boy and tried to offer a comforting smile.

"Why did you bring me, because I'm starting to feel like I'm not wanted here," The boy said half-jokingly as he continued to follow the woman through The Hub.

Yugito led him through a pair of double doors to reveal a large room full of computers. The biggest screen was in the center of the room and showed a map of the shinobi world. There were countless different color dots moving around the map, "I wanted to give you peace of mind." The woman turned to face Goku, "All of those dots are aliens that were processed by Kumogakure."

Goku watched her type in the code NT-734 and raised a brow while doing so, "So that means you know where N is?"

"I have a general location, but we're working on bringing N back home, and we don't need to lose you in the process too." Yugito pointed at two red dots on the screen that were in Kumogakure and grinned, "See, and then there's you and I."

"You're an alien?"

Before their conversation could go any further, Band, the man from earlier entered the room and pointed at Yugito, "Nii Yugito, 734, The Director wants to see you both immediately."

Yugito simply blinked and then looked at Goku, "That can't be good."

"I'm ready to leave this place."

. . .

N had his hands lazily wrapped around the drawstrings of his sweatshirt as he strolled through the thick forests of Hi no Kuni behind Hashi the 'ghost.' He didn't know where exactly she was leading him since everything was foreign to him, but he trusted her judgement for some strange reason. As they walked, he noticed that they were getting closer and closer to civilization, "Is that what I think it is?" N asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, it is," Hashi cooed quietly as she floated toward their unspoken destination.

"How did you even know where to find this place?" He questioned further with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I'm aware that they're called Hidden Villages for a reason, but I know everything," Hashi tried to say in a non-narcissistic tone, but failed miserably. She continued to float quietly toward the village while N followed. "734, are you ready?"

"What . . . ?" N stopped walking and looked at Hashi cautiously, "My name is N and you know that." The boy took another look around and noticed things losing color, and the area becoming more desolate.

"Oops," slipped from Hashi's ghastly mouth and the enemy shinobi gave up on their ruse. The image of the female ghost faded slowly and revealed a slim man with his eyes shut. He brushed his black hair out of the way of his face and turned to look at his captain.

Itachi sat on top of a branch with his legs crossed and a slightly displeased expression plastered on his face. His eyes were glowing red and staring a hole through N's chest, "You had one job." The man leapt from the branch and landed beside his partner, "Yeruslan, subdue 734 and let's get out of here, we have to be back at the fifth division base before night fall."

N furrowed his brow and tried to back away, but soon found himself constricted by a large snake that wrapped around his body. It's one, sharingan eye stared at N and slithered its tongue out. The boy reared his head back, but felt the snake's grip around him tighten, "Why me?"

The snake's deep voice startled N, "We probably would have let you walk if didn't try escape to Konoha."

Yeruslan broke a piece of a branch from a nearby tree and started to drag it through the dirt. He went around N and the snake and etched out a square, once he was finished he threw the stick to the side and slammed his hands together, the ground lighting up an electric blue, "Buh-bye!"

A barrier erected around N and the snake, and the two within the barrier started to break apart into particles and be sent somewhere else. Before they completely vanished, a small explosion rocked the area, and when the smoke cleared; they were gone.

Yeruslan looked at the ground and saw droplets of blood and white bits of snake skin covering the area he had just transported them from. He looked at Itachi with a raised brow, "Uh-oh, I think we gots a problem, Itachi-kun."

"We'll figure it out, for now let's return to base, I'm sure everything is fine." Itachi walked off before Yeruslan could say anything else, giving him no choice but to follow.

The slim man looked at the bits on the ground and then walked off after Itachi, hoping his partner was alright.

. . .

 _Short chapter, but I'll update more frequently from here. Holiday season was busy. :)_


	23. Revival

23 ~

Jiraiya paced through the secluded trail that led back to Konohagakure, whistling a tune to himself with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The man always returned home to give periodic updates about the ninja world to the Third Hokage personally.

As he walked through the dirt trail, his eyes started picking up little hints of a battle that took place not too long ago. He saw blood mixed in with the dirt and strange white bits that he only knew to be associated with extra terrestrials. The man kneeled down and examined it closely.

He scooped up a patch of dirt and picked out the the white remnants left behind by the alien, and reached into pocket to pull out his small money pouch. He poured out the scarce amount of change left in it and put the bits in it, "It's for the greater good, I guess." Jiraiya stuffed it back in his pocket in an instant. "Why would they not cover their tracks though?"

The white haired man came to a stand and continued his pace toward Konoha. He planned on dropping his new findings to Konoha R&D, and then continuing on to speak with his former sensei.

He turned his thoughts into actions and started moving forward once more and advanced into the Hidden Village he used to called home. When things got too hectic for him, he knew he could always count on Konoha remaining the same when he returned, and as anticipated; Kotetsu and Izumo were waiting on him at the gate.

The man ran a hand through his hair, and with his other hand waved at the two chuunin with a smile on his face. His gesture elicited a head nod from both of them, and he walked up to the booth, "What's new, gakis?"

"Explosion outside of the village yesterday, did you see?" Kotetsu asked with a raised brow.

"I saw the aftermath, pretty nasty in my opinion," Jiraiya left it at that, and decided not to share his findings. "Any idea where or who it came from?"

Ikumo shook his head in disappointment, "No, but it's unlike anything we've ever seen." He rested his face against his knuckle and yawned, "But they haven't done an actual search of the area, they're too busy gearing up for the chuunin exams coming up."

"I heard that Uzumaki kid made it this year too, it's going to be crazy," Kotetsu added with a smile. He was excited to see the talent that his home village produced go against the rest of the ninja world, because it certainly was an experience for him.

Jiraiya was frozen for a moment after hearing that Naruto made it into the chuunin exams, and the machine that was his mind instantly started working, "They're having the exams in the village this year?" The duo nodded and Jiraiya immediately walked into the village, and effectively ended the conversation with the pair of best friends that barely even noticed he left.

The man sighed to himself, "Well this changes everything."

. . .

( Location Unknown )

N clutched his ribs in extreme pain as he crawled across the perfectly laid marble floor. His blood stained the ground, and out his peripheral; he saw the same snake that sunk its fangs into his side slowly slithering across the ground. The boy had managed to blow half of the creature's body off and he planned on doing more.

The boy stuck his hand out, but suddenly felt another strike of pain, as a woman stepped on his wrist and stopped him from doing any kind of damage. She had shoulder length blue hair and same color eyes, which were locked on the boy, "734, calm down; we're not here to hurt you." Despite her comment, she pressed down on his wrist and furrowed her brow, "As long as you cooperate, you shouldn't have any problems."

"You kidnapped me and expect me of all people to cooperate with you?" N asked in a condescending tone.

"We can help you, and you can help us, but we knew you wouldn't come to us without guidance," The woman explained, as she removed her foot from his wrist. She picked him up off of the ground and stood him up. "I can tell you're not hostile, and you're willing to listen."

N had one hand over his newly created wound and the other on his drawstring, "I'll hear you out, if it means I'll stay alive."

The snake slithered up the woman's leg and into her cloak, and she didn't seem discomforted by it, "You want to meet your parents don't you?" She asked with a raised brow, taking a step closer to N, and looking down on him with a straight face.

"I do, but it seems like it's going come with consequences," N's vision was starting to get hazy due to bleeding out at a continuous rate. He looked at the woman with a furrowed brow, quietly gesturing to his open wound and she turned around to lead him somewhere else.

"We need you to participate on the chuunin exams as a member of the Akatsuki," She said quite calmly, while N's heart nearly skipped a beat. The woman turned and stopped moving completely, "If you don't want to, you're other option is living in the intergalactic prison with your kind."

N held his side and breathed slowly, and then looked at his bloodied hand. His options were very limited, due to his condition, and the sheer amount of powerful people he could feel roaming around wherever he was; he decided to cooperate with the woman, "If I do this, I want you to call me N, and not … 734. I'm starting to hate that."

"Very well N, my name is Konan." She bowed respectfully and continued their journey to the medical room, where a lone red-head girl sat in a chair reading an Icha-Icha Paradise book while waiting for someone to come and talk to her. "Karin, this is your new teammate, N; heal him." She ordered and walked out of the room.

The girl pushed her glasses up and warmed up instantly to the blonde, setting her book down on her seat and getting in his face, "You're an alien?" She asked as she lifted his shirt up comfortably and examined his wound.

"Not exactly," N said simply and looked the spiky-red-head up and down, "You're a medi—" In that instant, her hand was shoved into his mouth, and she forced him to bite down. His eyes widened, as he instantly started to feel better, and she transferred her energy into his body. The boy couldn't fight a grin from forming on his face, "I guess I judged you too soon."

Karin simply nodded her head and returned to her seat, so she could continue reading the only book the Akatsuki would give her. She pretended to read while she watched N slump against the wall and stare blankly at the roof, and being the good teammate that she is; she felt the need to console him. The girl set the book down, "It's not that bad, I hope you know."

N looked at her with a raised brow, silently prodding her to go on.

"According to the leader of this organization, we're like … bounty hunters, our team is going to be hunting down aliens and dealing with extraterrestrial activity from other villages." She shrugged and flipped a page in her book, "Pretty easy gig if you ask me."

"It's a little bit deeper than that, but I'll figure it out," N said as he slipped back into his own thoughts, and Karin had to actually return to reading. Him having to take people away from their families just to meet his own rattled his brain to no end, but he was positive he would find a way to work around it.

. . .

( The Hub ~ With Goku & Yugito )

"Who's the director?" Goku asked with something of a frown on his face, since the only time he 'summoned' somewhere was when he was in trouble.

"His name is Xabi, he's .. quite the character," Yugito explained to Goku with a bead of sweat running down the side of her face. While 'The Hub' was considered to be his domain, she hoped that she wouldn't have to cross paths with him during her visit.

Goku sighed and continued to follow after the woman, as she led him through multiple halls that went toward the back of the building. His office was located at the absolute dead end of The Hub and had no formal entrance. There weren't any doors and Goku saw the man with the vibrant red skin watch their every step toward his office.

He had his silk white hair tied into a ponytail with strands hanging out around his head. The man also wore a lab coat that swayed with his every movement, as he got up from his chair to greet the two visitors, "721, 734, how nice of you to join me today."

"Could you please stop calling me 734, my name is Goku." Goku rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest, acting like he wasn't impressed by the man's red skin.

"I know your name, who do you think gave it to you?" Xabi asked with a raised brow, and a smirk plastered on his face.

"Grandpa Gohan did," The boy said confidently but furrowed his brow when Xabi laughed.

"Gohan was one of my favorite re-creations," Xabi said with a smile on his face, patting Goku on the head, "The real Son Gohan died years ago fighting the four-tails jinchuuriki along with your sensei, K." The man was quick to reveal to the alien pre-teen with a grin only a mad scientist could muster. He could see by Goku's confused expression that he should further explain, "That famous story has been exaggerated over the years, giving all of the credit to K, but Son Gohan was the man who sacrificed himself for the village."

Yugito placed her hand on Goku's shoulder and furrowed brow, "I think that's enough, Xabi." She decided to speak up after seeing how the news made Goku feel. "That can't be why you brought us down here."

"He deserves to know," Xabi smiled at the woman and then turned his attention to Goku, who he saw readying himself to barrage the man with questions.

"Then who was the man posing as Grandpa Gohan?" Goku asked immediately.

"Due to dire need for him during war time, a forbidden procedure from my planet brought him back to life," The alien scientist didn't want to give too much information to Goku, just the basics, so he bit his tongue at that point. "He and I were connected from that point, everything he saw I saw as well, and I controlled him to a certain degree, so I could handle other world affairs among humans. What do you think was under his mask?" Xabi asked with his same devilish grin.

"Wait- so you're like my real granddad?" Goku didn't even digest the other information, only realizing that Gohan lived on through Xabi.

"I guess you could say that," Xabi tapped his chin and then simply shrugged before returning to his desk. He placed his feet on the desktop. The man let out a sigh of relief, "Now that I got that off of my chest, I can tell you what I really brought you down here for."

After hearing what Xabi opened their conversation with, she was quietly worried about what he might say next. Even she didn't know about Gohan's dark experience of dying, only to be brought back for the village's sake so Xabi could live vicariously through him. The wary woman's brow twitched when he opened his mouth again.

"I just wanted to tell you, I advise that you stay out of what's going on with your friend N," He pointed at himself. "It's my job to worry about the little alien youth being held in captivity. If I lose you too, that's my ass, and I like my ass, so keep your ass within the walls of this village, or else I'll lock you in the basement of The Hub."

Goku stared blankly at the man as if he were the 'Limitless K,' and rolled his eyes. He looked up at Yugito and saw stern glare locked onto him, with a hint of worry written on her face. It started to register that he was serious, and Yugito had seen it first hand, "I understand," was all Goku could mutter without getting himself in trouble with the higher ups.

"Good, you two can leave now," The red-skinned man shooed them away as if they were his annoying pets and returned to his previous work.

Yugito was more than glad to guide Goku away from the crazy scientist she was unfortunate enough to answer to. She had her arm around Goku's shoulder, so he wouldn't try to get away from her, and led him back to where they entered the building.

"Did you know Grandpa Gohan, like the real Grandpa Gohan?" Goku asked, looking up at his the woman he had met hours ago.

"Yes, he was a great man," Yugito's answer was short and concise, and she didn't add anything beyond that. She knew Goku wanted to know more, but she didn't feel like it was her place sharing that kind of sensitive information, so she would leave it to someone like Mabui.

Goku picked up on her hesitance to share any real tidbits about the man he knew as his Grandfather. The boy sighed and continued to walk with her out of The Hub. He didn't let it bother him though, knowing he would figure out the truth about Gohan's story, so he decided to leave it alone for the moment.

. . .

(Hi no Kuni ~ With Naruto)

The newly created forest that formed before Naruto's eyes started to slowly retract into the ground. The boy tried to scoot backwards, as a stoic man appeared with the right side of his face bandaged up. He had his hands held firmly over his cane, "Naruto-kun, I'm very pleased to finally meet you." The man took concise steps forward as Naruto tried to escape, "Your younger brother Jirou-kun is excited to meet you as well."

Naruto was backed against the trunk of a tree, "Brother?" The blonde was beyond confused and a little worried by the sudden appearance by the older man. The man nodded his head, "I don't have a brother!" He yelled out and jumped up, creating a clone of himself instantly, and they both tried to pounce on the old man with their swords drawn.

Despite his old and frail appearance, he was quite agile, and avoided the quick slashes from the young shinobi and his clone's katana. The Naruto's threw their swords directly at the man's head, and he simply shifted his body to dodge them. The sword was now lodged firmly into the base of a tree, and the two clones tried their hand at direct melee with the man but he parried or straight up dodged every strike.

The copy tried to swing low and sweep the man off of his feet, but his reaction was quick, and he jumped into the air. The elderly shinobi was just as quick to plant his foot into the clone's chest, sending him flying across the field and puffing out of existence.

The real Naruto tried to tackle him onto the ground, but the man flipped backward and landed without an issue. The man was finally going on the offensive after remaining passive, smacking Naruto against the head with his wooden cane, and closing the distance instantly.

From his wooden cane, he revealed the concealed sword within it, and didn't hesitate to stab into Naruto's arm while he was down, "I was hoping you wouldn't react negatively, but I should have known." He made a silent hand gesture and men clad in black appeared in an instant. "Sedate him," The elder gentleman said quietly as he walked off.

Naruto let out a scream of pain as he tried to dislodge the sword from his arm, but the grunt was over him as soon as Danzo directed him to do so.

"Yes, Danzo-sama," The grunt replied and withdrew a pouch full of powder quickly, reached in, and threw it onto Naruto's face. The boy fell unconscious in an instant, and the man scooped him off of the ground just as fast. He threw the boy over his shoulder and started to trail after Danzo, "Where are we going sir?"

"We'll return to the base for right now," Danzo held his hand out expectantly, and one of his grunts placed his wooden cane in his hand without hesitation. He returned to his frail old man façade and paced slowly out of the training field.

The rest of his minions disappeared into the shadows and took to a more low key method of travel throughout the village. The old man nearly grinned, but his stoic nature wouldn't allow it. He was one step closer to completing a plan he had been perfecting for years and no one was there to stop him.

(Outskirts of Konohagakure)

The heavily armored alien and his partner were walking slowly through an open clearing. In the center of it was a small and decrepit shake, it look like it hadn't been visited in years. The man with the back-length hair falling out of his protective helmet was leading the way. He turned slightly to look at his partner, who had been silent since he started leading him there.

He stopped moving and stared at the man, "I told you, we're going to find them, but for now; we need to focus on our actual mission." The man gestured toward the shack, "I'm sure this is going to help your case too."

"That's not what I'm thinking about," The alien man responded quietly, "Those Akatsuki guys really are on my brain." He walked past his partner and looked up at the shack, "But if you and the boss really think this is going to help, I guess I should focus."

The man smiled under his mask and led him into the shack, going straight to where he needed to be. There was a wall full of masks and he knew exactly which one to pick out. He held the demon-like mask in his hands and looked at his partner with a wide grin, "I heard King Kai is scared of this guy." The two shared a light laugh, but the room got serious once again. "Do you want to do the honors?"

The alien simply shook his head in response, "This weird shit is relative to your planet, not mine." He shooed the mask away with his hands, "I don't take part in whatever black magic you people created." The alien man moved to the corner of the room and prodded his partner to go through with whatever it was he had planned. He folded his arms over each other and leaned back to observe.

With his back turned to the alien, the man took the helmet off of his head and set it on the ground. He placed the mask on his face and turned to face his partner, and in an instant; the spirit of the shinigami materialized before the two. It was being controlled by the man who was brave enough to put the mask on, he held his hand out, and the shinigami mimicked his movement.

The ethereal death god had a tanto in its grasp, and the man controlling it slashed across the stomach. Multiple souls went flying out after being freed from the belly of the beast, and the same wound was projected onto the man. He was quick to remove the mask and fall to his knees after controlling such a presence like the shinigami.

The man sat down on the ground and quickly put his protective helmet back on. Second on his priority list was taking the top part of his armor off, so he could get the proper medical attention. He gestured toward his partner, who immediately walked up to the man and started treating his wound, "I hope he gets what he wants out of this," He mumbled to his alien partner and grinned. "You weren't scared were you?"

"I was only a little bit disturbed," He said as he wrapped bandages around the man. The alien didn't like to dabble in Earth's affairs, or how they operated. It wasn't anything like where he came from, and supernatural things like what just happened made him uneasy, "But it's for the greater good I suppose, he was supposed to be one of the best."

The man nodded, "I can't wait to finally meet him."

. . .  
 _  
My computer magically started working again when I got back from SXSW, so here's another chapter.  
_


	24. Another One Bites The Dust

24~

By the time Goku and Yugito left the hub the sun was shining, and it reminded the boy that he was supposed to be training with his sensei for the day. He looked up at Yugito and grinned, "I hate to leave you so soon, but I have somewhere to be," the boy tried to run off, but the woman grabbed him by his collar and he slung back into her grasp.

"I really need you to behave, I'll be watching your every move," Yugito informed him before disappearing in a crackle of electricity.

Goku had something else to say to her, but their interaction was cut short. He groaned, wishing he knew how to use shushin as effectively as everyone else. The boy started walking back in the direction of the village to meet K at his house. It would be nice to do some actual training in wake of the recent events.

He knew becoming a full-time shinobi would be time consuming and even life-changing, but he didn't expect his life to take a complete turn. It was roaming around a month since he became a genin; he had already travelled across the continent, and fought with some of the most wanted people on Earth. Losing his tail and finding about his saiyan heritage put the icing on the proverbial cake as well.

The boy was so absorbed in his thoughts as he reentered the village, he didn't even notice that he walked right into the man he was looking for. He stumbled backward and fell onto the ground, only to look up and see K staring at him with a slight frown. Goku grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "I wasn't expecting to see you this soon."

"Your mother told me what happened," K grabbed Goku by his shirt and lifted him off of the ground, so he could look at him at eye level. His icy glare didn't seem to faze Goku anymore, so he decided to deliver the bad news to him, "There has been a change of plans."

Goku instantly frowned, "What do you mean?"

"You'll be training with Master Roshi today," K dropped Goku onto the ground and started walking off. "I have business to attend to." He disappeared with his signature shushin and left Goku alone to figure out everything else.

The boy furrowed his brow, since this was the second time today he had been left alone with no explanation, and now he had to locate an old man he barely knew. Goku let out a sigh and chose to go back home for now and deal with the inevitable screaming match with his mother, and probably Bulma since she was living with him as well.

It didn't take long for him to travel across the village, and before he knew it; he was walking up the door steps. The door instantly slid open, and his mother had been waiting all night for him to return. He stopped on the top step and nearly froze in place when he saw his mother staring him down.

"You're very lucky," She said as she stepped to side to reveal Chi-Chi standing behind her with a smile on her face. Mabui grabbed her bag and walked past Goku, she stopped on the bottom step and looked up at him with a frown. The woman pointed at the ground, "Be here tonight, we have a lot to talk about." With that, she left the two genin alone.

Despite the chill that just ran down his spine, Goku had to turn and look at Chi-Chi like none of that just happened. He offered a weak smile, "What brings you here?" He asked he stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.

Chi-Chi followed behind Goku into the living room and sat on the couch, "I came to check on you, since you obviously were too busy to come and see how I was doing." She pouted and furrowed her brow while looking at Goku. "We got destroyed by those Akatsuki guys, Krillin is in the hospital, and N got kidnapped; yet you seem like you don't even care."

"I care more than anyone, but I can't do anything about it right now," He sighed and finally let his non-caring attitude die down. Goku frowned at Chi-Chi, "I tried to sneak out of the village last night so I could track down N, but that Yugito lady found me."

The girl sat down on the couch and pinched Goku on the arm, "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Ouch! What was that for? I had to do something," The boy complained and got off of the couch so he could get away from the angry little girl.

"I know, I just don't think it's smart to risk another loss because you're a hot head," Chi-Chi didn't know how to feel. She was happy that Goku did actually care, but worried that he cared too much, and might actually get himself in trouble. "Don't forget that they want you too, they'll just lure you in with N and trap you."

Goku shook his head and tried to forget everything else for a moment, "How's Krillin?" He changed the subject as he started gathering things so he could leave the house again.

"He's still in the hospital, you need to come see him with me," She said as she walked across the room and opened the door. Chi-Chi gestured outside, and Goku had no choice but to follow her out of the house and down the steps.

"I was going to go anyway, you don't need to tell me what to do," Goku complained as he followed the girl.

. . .

(Konohagakure No Sato ~ With Sasuke)

It was uncharacteristic for the youngest Uchiha to be searching for Naruto Uzumaki. God forbid that he even call the boy a friend, but one thing he was, was an excellent training partner, and he needed him right now. The raven-haired boy had been searching all day, visiting his teammates, village gates, ramen stand, and now his apartment; there was still no sign of him.

He leaned over the rail of dingy apartment and looked at his view of the village. The boy quietly groaned, but instantly snapped back to reality when he heard two people coming around the corner of the apartment complex. He turned his head and saw the two familiar faces of Shikamaru and Choji with the same frustrated expression he had not too long ago, "He's not here."

"What a drag," Shikamaru frowned after finding out the inevitable. "We've been looking for him all day," He explained while stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Where could he possibly be?" Choji asked in between his routine bites of chips.

"We didn't have a mission today, Sakura or Kakashi haven't seen him, and he hasn't been to ramen stand since yesterday," Sasuke retraced his steps and it led up to the moment the three boys were experiencing right now. "I know he didn't leave the village, so he's somewhere within Konoha."

"I say we check the ramen stand again, I'm starting to get hungry," Choji suggested as he continued to eat his chips. "He's probably roaming in that area an-"

Both boys stopped talking to look at Shikamaru as he had gotten the door to Naruto's apartment open, and he was already walking around before he announced anything. They didn't have a choice but to follow him in there and see what was going on.

Despite being known for being lazy, Shikamaru worked quickly when he needed to. The boy was moving around the apartment looking for clues, and finally stumbled upon a reminder from the Hokage's grandson; Konohamaru for their 'special' training session, "It looks like he hasn't been here since at least yesterday morning." He turned to see Sasuke paying attention, while Choji had helped himself to some of Naruto's instant ramen. "The last person he's interacted with from what I see, is Konohamaru."

Choji slurped up some noodles and nodded his head, "That makes sense, that kid looks up to Naruto."

"We're going to the academy to find him then," Sasuke said as he walked out of the apartment and expected the two boys follow behind him. School was still in session for students, so he knew he would be able to find Konohamaru without struggle.

Shikamaru never officially signed up to spend his day looking for Naruto, but unfortunately for him; he had nothing better to do. He also liked Naruto, so he forced himself to walk forward, instead of plopping onto Naruto's couch and wasting the rest of his day.

Choji simply shrugged and figured he could grab something to eat during their small journey to find their friend.

Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru being together was a very rare occurrence, so there weren't many words shared between them. The only time lips were really being separated was when Choji was grabbing another handful of chips, and much to the boy's dismay; they went straight to the academy to find Konohamaru.

Luckily enough for them, the clock was just turning noon, and all of the kids were in the courtyard playing freely. Sasuke stopped in front of the entrance and looked back at his two partners for the day, "Let's make this quick," He said as he then walked into the yard to find Konohamaru.

Choji frowned, "Who made him the leader of the mission?" He looked at Shikamaru, expecting a similar complaint in response, but the Nara boy simply shrugged.

"Less work for me," Shikamaru watched Sasuke move through the courtyard with a slight smirk on his face. "He's obviously the one that cares the most." The boy finally followed the Uchiha's lead into the courtyard and saw the Hokage's grandson playing with his friends in the corner of the yard. He also spotted the restless Uchiha walking toward them.

Sasuke walked up on the children kicking a ball around, and caught that same ball out of the air when it almost hit him in the face. He threw it to the side and stared the three children with a furrowed brow. It was nothing but silence during their brief stand off, until Shikamaru walked up with a wave.

"What's up guys?" Shikamaru asked, leaning against a tree while looking down on the academy students.

Konohamaru wasn't exactly pleased to have his recess time cut short because of the genin, "You just messed up my game!" He pouted and folded his arms over each other. "What do you want?"

Sasuke wasn't a fan of beating around the bush, so he was happy to hear Konohamaru cut straight to the point, "Where is Naruto?" He asked, his arms now folded as well.

"Wha? Why would I know that?" Konohamaru honestly didn't know where his self-proclaimed rival was. He tried to cut the conversation short and grab his ball, but Sasuke picked it up off of the ground and held it out of his reach. "Hey, give that back!"

Shikamaru didn't really condone messing with the kid to get information, but he didn't feel like scuffling with Sasuke to get the ball either, "Where was the last place you saw him?"

Konohamaru's friend wiped away from the snot under his nose, "We were with Naruto-kun at the training field right before dinner time, but that's the last time we've seen him."

After hearing that, Shikamaru took the ball from Sasuke and handed it back to Konohamaru. He sighed and stuffed his hands back in his pockets, "The training field is the only place I haven't been."

The trio of genin started walking away from the courtyard, while Choji raised his brow, "How come we didn't go the training field in the first place?"

"Naruto usually doesn't wake up until the middle of the day and doesn't go the training field until later," Sasuke said as he led them to the training field that he and Naruto always train at. "Unless he turned over a new leaf, but I don't think he would wake up and go straight to train."

"I highly doubt that," Shikamaru agreed with Sasuke for once, since he of all people knew how hard headed Naruto could be.

When they arrived at the training field, there were a few people there sparring, but what caught all of their attention was boy with pale skin and short black hair holding the katana Naruto had recently acquired. Sasuke was the first to walk straight across to confront the boy, while Shikamaru looked around the training field warily.

"Have you ever seen any of these people?" Shikamaru whispered to Choji and the boy shook his head 'no' in response. While Konoha was a big village, he was somewhat familiar with the faces that passed through on a daily basis, "Come with me."

Sasuke didn't notice Shikamaru and Choji leaving while he walked up to the boy, "Where did you get that sword from?" He opened their interaction with a question.

"It's nice to meet you as well," The boy smiled at Sasuke, but it didn't come off as genuine. He held up the sword and shrugged his shoulders, "I found it here."

The Uchiha could tell he wasn't lying, but something still seemed odd about the situation. The boy held his hand out expectantly, "Well that belongs to my teammate Naruto," Sasuke furrowed his brow when the sword wasn't instantly in his hand after telling the other boy to hand it over.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Uchiha-kun," The pale boy grinned at Sasuke and sheathed the sword and strapped it to his back. "I'll make sure it gets back to Naruto-kun safely," He said as he walked past Sasuke calmly, placing his index finger on his nose as he did so in a natural motion, which signaled his teammates to initiate the next part of their plan.

"SASUKE, JUMP!" Shikamaru screamed out from a hidden position as his shadow extended out from the thick forests that surrounded the training field, and held everyone present still.

The Uchiha was smart enough to listen to his teammate and leaped into the air, activating his Sharingan as he did so. His perception slowed down, and he watched as Choji rolled out from the trees and knocked down all of the enemy shinobi like bowling ball pins.

The raven-haired boy tumbled onto the ground and retreated into the forest where he heard Shikamaru's voice and saw the Nara youth running away from the scene. Sasuke could see that the boy obviously had a plan so he would simply follow.

Choji came circling back and fell into step with his two former classmates. The three were erratically running away from what was inevitably behind them. The group of random shinobi obviously had an ulterior motive, and it all had to with Naruto for some reason.

Shikamaru saw what he needed to see: identifiable people to associate with Naruto's disappearance. For now he would try to escape with the information, so he could live to tell the story later. Since they were thoroughly outnumbered, he would at least scatter them out and try to take them down one by one.

Sasuke sprinted past Shikamaru and Choji doing hand signs, he took a deep breath and released a monstrous fireball that set everything in its path ablaze. The trio skidded to a halt after he did that, and watched as multiple shinobi jumped away with their clothing in flames, as their poorly executed camouflage genjutsu fell apart.

The trio backed up into each other, watching as the strange shinobi began to surround them. A bird made of ink swooped down, flapping its wing, and the pale boy stood full of pride on top of its head. The boy parted his lips from his smirk, "I hate that we had to go about it this way, but you saw through our ruse."

"Where are you keeping Naruto?" Shikamaru was the first to speak up, with their 'backs against the wall,' he figured he would at least get more insight on what's going on.

"Uzumaki-kun is apart of something big, and Uchiha-kun will be the next piece added to the puzzle," The emotionless boy drew his tanto and jumped down from the bird. He and his group of shinobi started to move into a formation.

Sasuke furrowed his brow and prepared himself for the battle about to take place, and felt shock run through his system the instant it began. They were stronger, faster, and more skilled than he was. A fist was planted into his face and sent him flying across the forest floor.

The pale boy followed after Sasuke and pounced on him quickly, slashing across the boy's chest and drawing blood. It splattered outward and covered his face, but he was unfazed by it. He stabbed his tanto into the boy's thigh to pin him down, and then stood up to signal some more of his teammates to come retrieve the raven-haired teen.

Choji and Shikamaru were chopped down just as quickly as Sasuke was, seeing that their moment back in the training field was pure luck. Their only opportunity to escape was destroyed just as quickly as it had come, and everything from that point faded to black for the trio of genin.

The fight wasn't even fair, and the one-sided battle was over in an instant. The three genin were scooped off of the ground and transported to their hidden facilities. The other members of the group fell back to clean up the scene, like they were originally doing before Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru had showed up.

Once everything was cleaned out and restored, it was almost like the incident had never happened.

. . .


	25. Jirou

**25 ~**

Goku and Chi-Chi entered the hospital room slowly. Master Roshi sat next Krillin's bed, watching the unconscious boy's vitals while the nurse was out of the room. He turned his head and smiled at the two kids, "Good to see you two come by!" He stood up and walked forward, ruffling Goku's hair. "We've been waiting on you to come by, Goku-kun."

The saiyan boy smiled awkwardly and walked up Krillin's bed side, his eyes tracing across the multiple stitches across his body. It looked like he had literally been torn apart and put back together, "He looks like a zombie." Goku spoke up and frowned, turning to look at Chi-Chi and Master Roshi, but the older man's attention was barely with the kids anymore.

The fair-skinned nurse returned to the room to swap out the fluids from Krillin's IV, her sizeable bust was barely contained by her form-fitting uniform. She offered a smile at Goku, which made the boy blush, and Master Roshi had his tongue hanging from his mouth. The woman left the room to return to her regular work routine, while Goku and Master Roshi's head swiveled watching her leave.

The older man tapped his cane against the floor and grinned, "I think we should stay here for Krillin, I think he needs our support!" He looked at Goku and lowered his sunglasses, winking at the boy, but was instantly slapped in the face by an upset Chi-Chi. The man promptly stood up, "Or we can go train."

Chi-Chi grabbed both Goku and Master Roshi by the ear and dragged them out of the room. The boy had only been at the hospital for minutes and he was already leaving, "I think Master Roshi is right, he needs our support!" The girl ignored him and continued to drag them all the way to the stairwell.

She turned around and glared at them both, "This is not a joke, we need to stay sharp, or else something like this can happen again! Krillin wouldn't want us standing around!" The girl yelled and stormed out of the door.

"She's mad," Goku stated the obvious and looked up at his sensei for the day. The man frowned, "I think we need to do what she says, at least for today, old man." He offered his fist up to Master Roshi, and they bumped knuckles before following the girl down the stairwell.

"She's always mad," He explained to Goku. The man's famous grin returned to his face as they made their way to the hospital lobby. "Today is going to be very important; you'll get a lesson in utilizing your natural energy, but more importantly; women. There's nothing more dangerous than an angry woman."

"Why is that, Master Roshi?" Goku asked as they were now ear shot of Chi-Chi.

"Because they have to power to withhold something no man has and that's-" Roshi stopped midsentence when he looked up to see Chi-Chi glaring at him across the lobby. He placed his arm around Goku's shoulder and shook his head, "You'll learn in due time, my boy."

"Enough of that useless chit chat, let's get moving," Chi-Chi instructed, despite being the student. At least for today, she would be making sure everything went smoothly and on schedule. She knew where they needed to be, and what they were supposed to be doing. The little girl led the way, and the two men had no choice but to follow after her.

Master Roshi's team had a designated training field that they always worked at. It sat right behind the older man's house in the higher parts of the village, the space being mostly empty, with a pool full of spring water built into the middle of it. His home sat on a cliff, and the trio could see multiple mountains from where they stood.

Chi-Chi sat down, and urged Goku to do the same. Master Roshi placed his hands behind his back, walking to the edge of the cliff and then turned to face the two children sitting in his training field. "Today, we're going to be learning about the earth's energy, which is known as natural energy or quite simply 'ki.' It's one of the most powerful things this world has to offer," He held out his palm and formed a small yellow ball made of energy. "On the other hand, we have our inner energy, which is widely known as chakra." In his other hand, he created a small blue ball of energy to demonstrate.

The two students watched in awe as the man combined the two balls of energy, making one green sphere of energy, "Together they are extremely powerful, but I'll get to that another day. I'm teaching you about how to draw natural energy and converting it to a usable source of power."

The ball of green energy disintegrated and Master Roshi closed his palm, letting it fall back to his side. He now sat on the ground and got into a meditation pose, silently ordering the two students to do the same. He took a deep breath and started to draw in energy, which made him glow an electric blue as he did so.

Goku watched with his mouth wide open, completely amazed by the feat, and closed his eyes so he could try to do the same, but Chi-Chi flicked him on his head so he could continue to watch Master Roshi. The energy was absorbed into his body and continued to mix it with his chakra perfectly, and his presence came off to the children as stronger.

"For now, I want you two focus on meditating," Master Roshi explained, as he let all of the excess energy flowing through his body die down, and returned to his normal state. "If you handle that energy wrong, you can turn into stone!" He exclaimed while laughing.

The saiyan boy looked around at the statues that once looked like decoration, before noticing they were actual people that were sitting in the same pose he was in. He gulped quietly and closed his eyes so he could meditate like the man told him to do, a practice he was getting tired of doing.

He'd be happy when someone actually taught him an offensive technique.

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

N was trailing behind two men dressed in black and red cloaks. Since his capture by the Akatsuki, he was unofficially working for them, until they reunited him with his parents as promised. He had even been outfitted with his own Akatsuki attire, which consisted of an all black padded vest, a black hooded sweatshirt underneath it (per his request), and matching blank pants. He wore a red armband with a black cloud outline, which was his only show of affiliation with the group.

The boy never would have imagined that the leader would send him out as quickly as he did, especially with the group of men that captured him. They moved in silence, which he had no problem with, but he was slightly discomforted by the white bird with the blood red sharingan eyes that stayed perched on his shoulder. It made the feeling of being constantly watched even worse, but he would have to live with it for the moment.

Yeruslan was the odd one out of the group, who skipped throughout the forest instead of walking normally like the rest of the shinobi present. He twisted his body in mid-air and grinned at their newest recruit, "You don't talk much, do ya?" He asked, tilting his head as he did so.

"I'm not really trying to get to know you guys, no offense," N averted his eyes away from the slim man who moved like he had no bones in his body. The boy was only being honest, since he had his motives within Akatsuki, and planned to drop them like a bad habit once he got what he needed.

"None taken," Itachi spoke up, and stopped walking. They were approaching the top of a hill, which at the bottom was a small town. "We've arrived, everyone understands the plans right?"

They all nodded in unison, save for Itachi and they continued down the hill and entered the small town. It was a run down village with a lot of dilapidated buildings, but it was still functional. People moved about to go to work, school, or simply roam the streets trying to find what was going on for the day.

The bird that was perched on N's shoulder flew off and the pack of shinobi broke away from each other. Yeruslan walked down the street and entered a random building, and N was instructed by Itachi to follow after him. The boy watched as Itachi moved with a purpose, the whole town already mapped out in his head, and he knew they scanned the place before even coming.

Everything the Akatsuki did was well planned and concise, except for Deidara's division. The man, who was currently head of the interrogation division, entered a diner with N in tow, and sat in a booth that was on the left side of the restaurant.

It was an energetic establishment, with live music being played the moment they walked in. The diner was full of people, with waitresses constantly moving in and out of the kitchen. One of the waiters walked up to the booth the two Akatsuki members sat in, "Are you two ready to order?" They both nodded and she flipped a new page in her booklet. "What would you like?"

"My son would like to learn how to play the piano," Itachi said without looking at any type of menu. The woman closed her booklet and nodded before walking off. The raven-haired man reached into his cloak and pulled out his wallet. The woman returned with a booklet, Itachi opened it, and placed a stack of bills within the cover.

The woman opened the booklet, made sure the correct amount was there, and then tucked it under her arm. She held her hand out and helped Itachi out of the booth, and did the same for N. They all wordlessly walked into the back of the diner. It appeared to be a normal diner, but she led them all the way to the back, and opened the door to the freezer.

They stepped inside the chilly environment, and she kneeled down to pull up the secret door that led underneath the diner. She was the first the go down the ladder that led to the underground warehouse, and the two Akatsuki members followed her lead.

N knew his experiences with the Akatsuki would be wild, but he didn't expect it all to happen so soon. The warehouse lived up to its name, being a fully functional stash spot for all of the unmarked crates filled with only god knows what. The boy was in awe, following behind Itachi and the waitress.

Vehicles N had never seen were rolling across the warehouse floor, and he and Itachi were being led to one of the only other rooms inside the warehouse, which was currently being used as an office. The waitress stopped there, letting them walk inside without her, while she returned to her regular job.

There was a man sitting with his back turned, watching a television with security feeds all over it. He swiveled in his chair, revealing his heavily masked face. His head was wrapped in a special cloth, and he wore full body armor all the way up to his neck. Over his light armor, he wore baggy, earth tone clothing that looked ragged.

He stepped from behind the table, dragging his brown boots across the floor. He extended his hand, "Key," he introduced simply. The man gestured toward the two seats that were in front of his desk and Itachi promptly sat down, while N continued to stand off to the side.

"You requested our presence," Itachi opened their conversation and got straight to the point. For Key to have the direct contact to Akatsuki radio waves was concerning, and wasn't something they planned on ignoring. Instead sending a grunt in to see what he wanted, Itachi went instead, since he was more than capable of handling himself.

"I did," Key replied and reached under his desk. It made not only N wary, but Itachi as well. He pulled out a plastic package and set it on the table. He pointed at the vacuum sealed package, "I think we have similar end goals, and could benefit from working with each other."

"I would agree," Itachi leaned forward and examined the package full of green powder. He covered his index finger in sharp chakra and sliced the bag open. The man pressed his finger in the finely grained powder and sniffed it, "This is senzu powder, correct?" Key nodded in response, and Itachi pushed the package back toward the man.

"We're willing to include the Akatsuki in this business in exchange for top of the line protection," Key laid the offer on the table metaphorically and leaned back in his chair. He tilted his head upward and grinned, hoping to acquire a new partner today.

"We cannot be directly associated with your … group, but we can offer lucrative funds and a special kind of manpower," Itachi explained but the man shook his head no the whole time he spoke.

"We want _you_ ," Key was quick to respond, but before the conversation could move any further, N felt an uncomfortable shift in the air, and was fast to tackle Itachi to the ground. The whole room was soon decorated with bullets, and the sound of horrified screams filled N's ears.

The two Akatsuki members were still on the ground, and N slowly moved from out under the desk. He was devastated to see Key with multiple bullets lodged through his head, and his blood pouring freely across the desk. Itachi stood up and carelessly grabbed the vacuum seal package from earlier and began moving.

Before they could leave the office, the door was kicked in, and three men dressed in the same kind of distressed earth-tone clothing as Key moved in on Itachi and N, "Put your fucking hands up!" They were all holding futuristic looking rifles, and they were all pointed at the Akatsuki members.

Itachi looked at N, and the boy threw his hand out, sending out an explosive wave of energy that ripped through the grunts with relative ease. They were all sent flying out of the entry way, and the two teammates rushed out of the warehouse. Everything had been cleared out, and all of the people that were once working there were gone.

The older Akatsuki member figured that Key's own workers had turned on him, and now they were going to try and kill him and N. When they got outside of the diner, they weren't pleased to see Yeruslan being forced to walk forward with multiple rifles pointed to his back. Despite his situation, he had a smile plastered on his face when he saw Itachi with blood splattered over his face.

"They had us figured out, Itachi-kun," Yeruslan said with his hands behind his head. He laughed like a child, "It's a double sting!"

"We're both looking for the same person, there's no need for us to fight," A man spoke up, positioned on top of one of the many ragged buildings. He had very close cut hair, with arrow designs cut into top, and sides of his head. The man had fair brown skin, a chiseled face with multiple cuts on it, and a neatly shaved beard. He wore the same earth-tone, baggy, clothing like the rest of his small militia. He had a large rifle sitting strapped to his back, "We can both leave now and continue our search."

Itachi looked around, watching as more people filtered out of the buildings in the same style of attire as the man who was on the roof. They were all armed, and Itachi knew when to pick his battles, "Very well, but the next time we cross paths; let's not step on each other's toes."

The man nodded and ordered his men to stand down, and he leapt off of the building and led his makeshift army out of the town. Itachi, N, and Yeruslan watched in silence as they left, but couldn't help but feel wary about the whole situation.

"Why didn't we kill them, Itachi-kun?" Yeruslan asked, because they looked like more of a threat than they did help.

Itachi looked down on the bag of 'senzu powder' with a smirk, "Because they're going to help us find the Demon King: Piccolo."

. . .

( Konohagakure no Sato ~ With Kakashi )

The man had just finished eating a bowl of ramen, and the owner of the shop, Teuchi, brought him his bill. The jounin reached into his wallet and paid his tab, "Thank you again, Teuchi." He said as he got up from the bar, but before he could leave; the old man stopped him.

"Kakashi, I think there's something wrong with Naruto-kun," The old man explained worriedly.

The man with the gravity defying hair tilted his head to the side, prompting the old man to go on. He explained that Naruto hadn't visited his stand all day, and unless he was on a mission; that never happened. His friends even came looking for him not too long. With Naruto being such a systematic person, whenever something was off; everyone knew it, and Kakashi felt it as well.

"I suppose you're right," The shinobi sighed and placed on of his hands into his pocket. "I'll get to the bottom of it." That was the end of their interaction, and the man waved goodbye.

His first instinct was to take matters to the Hokage, because Naruto being gone was surely something he'd care about. When he arrived, he was startled to see both Shikamaru and Choji's fathers already there, and discussing a similar matter. Apparently they hadn't been able to find their sons for hours, and they were trying to get ANBU personnel to help with the case.

Kakashi entered the room and added his information into the mix, "Naruto and Sasuke are missing as well." He alerted the Hokage, Shikaku, and Choza. The room went silent, as they digested the newest piece of info, and realized how serious it had just become. "Choji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke were looking for Naruto earlier today, so he was the first to vanish."

"There aren't any records of them leaving the village today, so they're within the walls of the village," Shikaku started to piece together everything they had gathered in the small amount of time. He knew his son would never stay out this late without reason, and he would have told him in advance. "Either they're hiding from us, or someone else is hiding them from us."

"Choji would never miss dinner," Choza sighed, thinking about his son in possible danger stressed him out.

The Third Hokage stroked his goatee with a frown, "There are only a few people who hide in plain sight, and none of them ever have good intentions." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I think I know who's behind it, and I'm assigning you three the task of finding him. This has Danzo's fingerprints all over it, he's always quietly obsessed over Naruto, and I'm sure the kids got caught in the middle of it."

Shikaku nodded, "We'll have the Hyuga clan scan the village, and the Inuzuka's try to trace the boy's scent to wherever they're being held."

"Very well, everyone move out!"

. . .

( Konohagakure no Sato )

Danzo was a patient man, who constantly worked in the shadows, but he finally felt confident enough to step into the forefront with his ideas, and one of his most time consuming projects was close to being done. The man stood in front of a large holding tank, which was filled with liquid, and inside was a young boy with an oxygen mask over his face.

He turned around and looked at the other two tanks, which held Naruto and Sasuke in an identical state of consciousness. They were all connected, and his decade long plan was starting to come into fruition. All the data and DNA samples he collected would finally be useful. As he watched over the process, one of his subordinates shuffled into the room and handed him a folder.

"The transfusion, as well as the transplant was a success," The doctor reported and grinned toward the old man. The expression wasn't returned, but he was giddy none the less. "Once their chakra is finished draining, he should be able to actually be released."

"That's what I like to he-" Both Danzo and the doctor turned their heads quickly, and their eyes widened when they saw the glass of the tanks cracking. All of the liquid spilled out onto the ground and branches began jutting out from the ground. It didn't take long before the whole room was overflowing, and the doctor was scared out of his mind. He retreated from the room, but Danzo refused to leave.

He drew his concealed weapon from his cane, and enhanced the cutting power with his wind-style chakra. The man tried cutting through the constantly growing branches, but a piece of it stabbed into his right bicep, and before he knew it; it was ripping through his body faster than he could respond. His blood poured onto the wood, and he was stuck in place.

At the center of it all was the mystery boy, and the trees continued to travel throughout the underground base. The wood wrapped around his body, serving as a protective cell, as the growth of the large tree continued, and ripped through ceiling. Anyone above ground could see the tree constantly growing in height, and made it possible for their location to be pinpointed.

Naruto and Sasuke regained consciousness at the same time, both of them locking eyes, and immediately cutting themselves free. They dropped onto the ground simultaneously, and helped each other up. After all they had been through that night, there were no words to be exchanged.

They had both been cut open, and drained of considerable amounts of blood. Naruto's natural recovery rate was working wonders on his body, while Sasuke still felt groggy, and his vision was hazy. He had to make sure he still had both of his eyes, and they were present, but the scientists had made incisions trying to get to his cornea for whatever reason.

It had all happened so fast, the two boys didn't know how to process it. They didn't know what is was for either, but they had a feeling it had to do with the boy that was encased in a cocoon made of wood. The two teammates sustained each other with their arms and took a few cautious steps forward, and nearly fell over when the boy opened his eyes and stared back at them.

Naruto's voice was still shaky, but he had a feeling in his stomach, "You're Jirou, aren't you?"

. . .

 _The new arc begins next chapter. I had big plans for Karin in Son Goku, but apparently they were too big; so I gave Karin her own story. I always thought her character had a lot of potential, so follow her journey of becoming a threat as she fights_ the disease _, and becomes one of the most notorious people in the ninja world in: The Day The World Turned Black._


	26. Konoha 3x

**26 ~**

Days had passed since that strange night in Konohagakure. The boys were returned to their rightful homes, after being examined of course. Naruto, Sasuke, and the mystery child Jirou were still being held at the hospital.

The expansive underground base was thoroughly investigated and swept clean, but there weren't any traces of Danzo, or anyone else for that matter present. It was like no one was ever there, and the Konoha ANBU had nothing to go off in their search for the man.

Kakashi and the Hokage were walking side by side down the hospital hallway. The doctors were constantly switching between rooms checking on the three high-profile children that were being held there for the time being. The two men stopped outside Naruto's room and let the passing doctors continue to filter in and out of his room.

The masked shinobi broke the silence between them, "So what are you thinking?" He looked inside the hospital room and caught a glimpse of the unconscious Naruto and frowned. The boy was rarely ever down too long, so it made him uncomfortable to see his student in the hospital for multiple days. "Do you think it's safe?"

The Third Hokage was a very serious man, but all he could do was shrug in response to Kakashi. The old man was known to be very wise, so he understood why Kakashi came to him for guidance, "They saw and experienced some extremely disgusting things, but what shinobi hasn't?" He was referring to the quite brutal and vivid story of Naruto and Sasuke's retelling of their incident. "At the end of the day, the decision is yours to make."

The heir to the Hatake name nodded his head and turned to enter Naruto's hospital room. There was a doctor present currently trying to stick a needle in his arm, but the boy was fidgeting in his sleep. Kakashi stepped up and held the boy down so they could stick the needle in his arm, but once it pierced his skin; he popped and a giant log was in his bed.

Kakashi furrowed his brow, and turned around to see the Hokage shaking his head with a slight grin on his face, "Naruto's gone." He said, shaking his head with a smirk of his own on his face.

Another doctor walked up to the Hokage and Kakashi, "Uchiha Sasuke is gone as well."

. . .

(Training Field ~ Konoha)

Naruto and Sasuke had seen, experienced, and heard about terrible things in the ninja world. They even lived through their fair share of traumatic experiences in their short lifetimes, but being apart of a sick science experiment was a new low.

Being kidnapped and tested made them feel paranoid, and they dealt with their insecurities differently from other people. With as much force as he could muster, Sasuke punched Naruto in the nose and made the boy stumble backwards, but he was quick to regain his composure.

The hyperactive boy sprinted forward and tackled Sasuke to the ground and returned the blow to his nose, and continued to repeatedly punch him in his face. Their method of fighting was nothing short of barbaric to say the least, but they were both angry at themselves, and this was the best way to channel the energy (to them).

Sasuke grabbed Naruto by his trademark orange coat and pulled him in for a powerful head butt, and followed it up by kicking Naruto off of him. The boy rolled across the grassy floor of their makeshift battlefield, and Sasuke chose to retreat from direct combat for the moment.

While he wouldn't openly admit it, he wasn't recovering as fast as Naruto was, and he was still drained. After being targeted for his eyes, he wanted to continue to train like he never unlocked his kekkei genkai in the Land of Waves.

He ran and hid behind one of the many trees in the training field, the trunk was soon decorated with multiple shuriken, and even more flew past where he was currently hiding. The Uchiha smirked, "Hn, your aim is terrible, dobe!" He reached into his equipment pouch, pulling out a single kunai, and turning his body, so he could launch it right at Naruto.

The boy wasn't quick enough to dodge, and the kunai landed in his throat. Blood exploded from his neck and tried to cover it, falling to his knees, and then down to the ground. A few seconds later, he exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke turned around and saw a whole gang of Naruto's standing in the trees, in place of the shuriken he had just thrown. The raven-haired grinned and took off running, dashing up the length of the tree and instantly engaged the five clones. He maneuvered through them easily, showing the skill advantage he had over the brute Naruto.

He made light work of the clones, striking them in their vitals and dispelling them from existence, and it left him with only two Naruto's. They were at a stand off on the long branch of the tree, and they instantly ran at each other.

One of the clones tried to sweep the Uchiha off of his feet, but he jumped and grabbed onto a higher branch. The three genin continued to ascend higher through the tree, exchanging blows when they had the chance. Sasuke jumped one branch higher, and spun all the way around, kicking the Naruto clone in the face before it could grab onto his ankles.

Sasuke climbed on one of the largest branches the tree had to off, and Naruto did the same. They got into their respective positions, but before they could charge in at each other; a bucket of water was dumped onto their heads and completely disgruntled the mood of their sparring battle.

Sitting right above them was their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, who was currently kicking his feet like a child, "Yo," He waved and then jumped down onto the branch with his two students. He pushed the bucket he used to dump the water into Naruto's hands, "A little payback for the first day you met me."

The Uzumaki boy frowned, "Kakashi-sensei, you ruined our match!"

"Hm, I barely even noticed," Kakashi tilted his head while looking at the two agitated boys. He rested his hands on their heads and grinned, "I just thought I'd bring the bad news to you two personally."

The boy's hearts sunk, because whenever Kakashi came bearing bad news; it was never good.

Sasuke was the more courageous of the two, slowly parting his lips to ask the dreadful question, "What is it, Kakashi?"

There was a brief moment of silence between the trio of shinobi for the moment. The news was heavy, and they could all feel it, but it was a decision he had to make to keep their best interest at heart. He had to deliver the news to one more student as well, "I know how much you two were looking forward to participating this year, but," Kakashi brought the two genin into his embraced and grinned. "I'm afraid I can't let you two be in the chuunin exams, you're not ready."

. . .  
(Master Roshi's House ~ Kumogakure)

Goku slowly rose from under the water with an agitated expression, glaring at Chi-Chi and Master Roshi who were laughing amongst themselves and standing on top of the water without a problem. The saiyan had to swim to the edge and climb back onto the grass, his wet body collapsing against the ground. He took a few ragged breathes, groaning as he heard Chi-Chi taunting him in the background.

He sat up and frowned, he had mastered walking on trees in a few days, and thought he was king of the world, but Roshi was quick to offer him a new challenge. Water walking was something he had been waiting his whole life to learn, but it was easier said than done, and watching Chi-Chi master it in mere days irritated him to no end.

The boy stood up and took that first prideful step into the pond, his two spectators watched closely, and like all of his other failed attempts; he sunk to the bottom of the pond by the time his second step came. Each time, he started with confidence, and he got a chance to be on top of the water, but he could never continue his walk.

Master Roshi snickered and held his hand out expectantly toward Chi-Chi, and the girl groaned out loud. She placed a few ryo in his hand, and he quietly slipped it into his pocket, "Goku, I see your problem." He walked up to the boy and held his cane out, helping him out of the water, and walked onto the grass. "You put too much chakra into your first step; there isn't enough for the second step, and so on." He smacked the boy with his cane and wagged his finger back and forth.

Goku winced, placing his hand on his side and groaning, "How else am I supposed to do it?" He thought about the process like actually walking, taking it one step at time. Goku thought of himself as pretty good at walking, but every time he tried to walk on water; he found himself soaked at the end of each attempt.

"Instead of putting so much energy into your first step, balance your chakra between your feet, and create a constant stream. Think of it like creating a path for you to walk on," Roshi pushed the boy back into the pond, but he wasn't quick enough to react, and sunk to the bottom like a rock once more. "If you don't want to water walk, I'll at least teach you how to swim."

Chi-Chi sat off to the side and giggled at Goku's struggle. He was too hardheaded to sit down and understand the concept of the technique, and tried to tackle it like it was tree-climbing all over again, so he had been trying to master water walking for days now. She got up and helped Goku out of the water once more, "Goku, quit acting like an idiot and get this done, so we can finally move on to something else!"

The boy tried hard to ignore Chi-Chi and listen to Master Roshi's advice. He took that courageous first step like he always did, but applied the idea of 'balance' to his chakra, and made it to the second step. He kept walking across the water, feeling confident enough to try to hop across the pond, but instantly sunk to the bottom.

He rose out of the water with a triumphant laugh, since he had least walked on water for more than one step. Goku raised his arms into the air, "YEAH!"

"Congratulations, Goku," Master Roshi grinned at his temporary student. He walked over to Chi-Chi and patted her on the head, "Why don't you head home for the day, you were excellent today!" He congratulated her, and she nodded in return.

Chi-Chi placed her hands on hips, turning toward Goku now, "Try to get this done by the time I come back tomorrow, Goku-kun," She waved at Roshi and Goku, and made her leave.

When Chi-Chi was out of earshot, Roshi slowly sat down on the ground, and patted the space next to him; urging Goku to come sit with him. The boy walked out of the water, getting the hang of the water-walking technique, and joined Master Roshi on the grass.

The old man was staring straight ahead with a smirk on his face, "You're special, Goku, I'm sure you know that," He begun his little speech, and introduction of his next lesson for Son Goku. "You're capable of doing things even my students will never be able to master, and I want to pass my signature technique down to you."

Goku's eyes were nearly twinkling in admiration for the man sitting before him. He had taught him more than his actual sensei K had in mere days, and now he was about to pass down his 'signature technique' to him. He shared a toothy grin with Roshi, "I'm ready for it!" He jumped up off of the ground and punched his fist into his open palm.

"Excellent, all I ask in return is," Roshi whispered in Goku's ear and the boy deadpanned in response. The man raised his eyebrow, "Do we have a deal?" Master Roshi extended his hand out to Goku.

Goku simply shrugged, "Yup, we have a deal," He shook the man's hand and then folded his arms over each other. "Ok, teach me the technique."

Master Roshi came to a stand and let his cane fall to the ground. He took a deep breath, he rarely had to gather this much energy; even in his most fierce battles. Roshi gradually built his chakra and absorbed the natural energy around him, "Ka," sweeping his arms in a wide arc, he continued his demonstration of the technique, "Me." He brought his arms to his side while he cupped his hands together, "Ha."

The boy watched in awe as Master Roshi prepped for his technique, blue energy now swirling within his palms, "Me." The energy began to form into a circle and the man thrust his hands forward and emitted a powerful wave of blue energy, "HA!" He aimed it at one of the statues in his self-made training field, and it was blown to smithereens in an instant.

Before his demonstration was even over, he turned his head slightly and saw Goku imitating his movements, and even generating energy. Master Roshi watched in awe as Goku fired a nearly identical wave of energy and destroyed another one of his statues like he had done. His jaw was nearly touching the ground, when he looked at the boy again; it hadn't even looked like Goku broke a sweat.

"I did it right, right?" Goku asked innocently, his hands still cupped together while he looked at Master Roshi.

When Master Roshi first heard of Son Goku, he didn't really believe all of the hype. He could see the potential, but what child didn't have potential? The boy seemed average, but that moment completely amazed him, and he was now a believer in Son Goku. The technique he had perfected for over fifty years was trumped in an instant by a twelve year old boy, the same boy who took days to master the water walking technique.

Roshi lowered his sunglasses, mouth still wide, and then burst into laughter, "Yes, that's absolutely right!"

"Ha, that was easy!"

. . .

(Location Unknown)

"You come off as such a peaceful man," The middle aged man had a ghost of a smile on his face, "I would never imagine you participating in an arms race like this." G was leading the same man who had killed Key not too long ago down the stairs, which was his expansive underground armory.

The man grinned at G, "I know my way around a few weapons." He ran his hand over his close-cut hair sheepishly, "I just don't want to get left behind." He had no problem admitting, sticking his hands in the pockets of his baggy forest green pants. They were tucked into a pair of brown boots with spiky soles.

"I understand completely, I learned from my good friend Gato that it's good to stay in the loop," G placed a finger on his chin and looked around the room. He wanted to get the man acquainted with a weapon he felt would fit his needs. G had only known the man for minutes, he seemed quite reserved, so he decided to pull one of his many sniper rifles off of the wall and place it in the hands of his customer. "Tell me what you think about this."

The brown skinned man looked like a kid in a candy store, his eyes dancing along the walls that were decorated with military grade weapons from Earth and beyond. He accepted the rifle graciously, instantly placing his eye within the scope and aiming the gun right at G. The arms dealer didn't seemed fazed, "I like it." He could feel the power of the gun without pulling the trigger.

"I knew you would like it, it's straight from one of the most powerful military factions in the galaxy," G walked to the other side of the room, and pulled another futuristic looking gun to show his customer. "I never got a chance to catch your name, young man."

The man grinned, "I go by Ye." The man dubbed as Ye hoisted the rifle on his shoulder, "I assume we're going to be doing a lot of business from now on." He was satisfied with his new sniper rifle, "I want you to supply my whole militia. We've been looking for something with more firepower."

G was never one to turn down money, and the thought of supplying a whole militia almost made him smile. It would be out of his nature though, "We may be able to work something out." The alien gun he was showing Ye now was quite large. The barrel was bigger than any he had seen, and G himself could barely hold the gun up. "This is exactly what you're looking for."

"I want it all," Ye was giddy thinking how big his arsenal would be. "I need it all!"

"Planning for something big, son?" G asked with a raised brow. His customers were usually political figures or strong shinobi, and they always had a plan when they came to shop. Whether it be infiltrating a village or simply intimidating another nation; they had something planned. The man before him didn't seem to have clear cut intentions, just an uncanny need for arms.

"There's a war coming," He informed G with a frown, as he stood the rifle up next to him. Ye reached into his pocket and pulled out a dingy map to show G what was happening. "Aliens have become a real problem, despite trying to stay hidden, and now they're about to come to the forefront. I've been chasing an alien named Piccolo for years, and I may have finally gotten him cornered, but if I kill him, or even attempt to I'll cross a lot of boundaries."

"I know of him," G nodded in understanding and started to piece Ye's predicament together. "Those boundaries being all of the affiliates going to battle, correct?" The man also nodded in response, "But you're an alien, why kill the Demon King?"

"He's done wrong to my people," Ye didn't dabble too much in his reasoning, but G understood what he meant by his simple statement. "It's a war that must be fought."

G was involved in most of underground crime in the ninja world since he inherited trafficking from Gato's company, so he heard stories of the Demon King. It's safe to say it would make his life easier if the kingpin was erased, so he had no problems supporting Ye in his endeavors. The middle age man looked Ye over and raised a brow, "And where will this war be fought?"

"Konoha."

. . .

(Kumogakure ~ With Goku)

Another week had passed since Goku had mastered water walking, and picked up the new technique from Master Roshi. The old man said he wouldn't teach him another thing until he honored his part of their deal. It was slightly irritating, but a deal was a deal, and he had to respect that.

It was early in the morning, and the boy sat up in his bed. He rubbed at his eyes, the sweet smell of breakfast filling his nose, and his mother screaming his name ringing in his ears. The boy threw his cover to the side and jumped out of bed. He tied up his hair like his sensei K and walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, honey," Mabui set a plate of assorted fruit and a few pieces of fish in front of a confused Goku. She knew he would eat nearly anything but he enjoyed a hearty breakfast, but she was trying to keep her son strong, "I'm in control of your diet from now on."

"What?" Goku looked at the dull plate of food in front of him and wanted to cry. He was terribly hungry though so he would eat it regardless, "What did I do to deserve this?"

"You made it into Chuunin exams, you need to be strong, Goku!" Mabui urged and went to grab her bag. She put her arms through the straps and went to kiss Goku on the cheek, "I'll see you later, make sure you clean up the house before you leave, okay?"

Bulma came walking out of her bedroom, still wearing a tank-top and a pair of shorts. She waved goodbye to Mabui, who was already halfway out the door. She came and sat down with Goku, starting to piece away the breakfast Mabui made for her, "Make sure you clean my bathroom thoroughly, there was still dirt around my shower last time you cleaned up."

The boy didn't want it to take any longer for his day to start, "You can't clean your room?"

"No, you owe me, I didn't tell Mabui that you snuck out that night," Bulma reminded him as she ate her breakfast.

"I got caught!"

"That's beside the point," Bulma could barely finish her plate, which had all the sweet breakfast foods that Goku was craving. She went to wrap it up and put it back in the fridge for her to eat later. She returned to the table with her hands on her hips, "I have a date today, so you can clean it after I get out, okay?"

Goku nodded his head, quietly wondering who she was going on a date with, but kept the inquiry to himself. She walked back into her bedroom and he pushed away from the kitchen table, so he could do what was asked of him. He started with empty plate, taking it to the sink to wash it off. He followed up by cleaning out the whole kitchen, and then started making his way back to his room.

He picked up all of his loose equipment he left laying around in his living room and returned it to the closet in his room. The boy picked up all of his clothes from the floor and made up his bed. He basically did everything he knew would make his mother happy, making everything she would see when she walked by his room tidy.

He moved into her room next and started going by the same process of cleaning his mother's room. Goku picked up her dirty clothes and put them in a neat pile, so he could make sure they got washed. He could tell what clothes she hadn't worn though, and folded them up to return them to their rightful place in her room.

Goku cleaned their house a lot, and always cleaned his mother's room for her, but today was different. Master Roshi's annoying request was being held over his head, and as he opened the underwear drawer he wouldn't have any second thoughts about on a normal day; he furrowed his brow. He put her clean clothes into the drawer, and eyed a pair of her panties like he never had before. Goku was contemplating a lot of things at the moment.

He wanted to learn more cool techniques from Roshi, but he was also scared of his mom, so the decision was a hard one. Goku picked up a pair of her underwear and stared in silence.

It was a hard stare too.

The boy slowly started to fold the panties up, and began to slip it back into his pocket.

"Goku, what are you doing?" Two voices asked simultaneously, Bulma who was currently fresh out of the shower, and the man he hadn't seen in almost two weeks; K. They both stared at the boy who was trying to sneak a pair of underwear into pocket for some strange reason.

Goku instantly deflected the questions and put the underwear in his pocket, "K how did you get inside our house?" Bulma titled her head and looked at the man suddenly, and now the attention was all on the mysterious K who had been missing for weeks, and decided to randomly pop into their house early in the morning.

"That's not important," K quietly appreciated Goku's deflection skills and got the attention on him. He pointed at Goku, "Pack your bags, it's time to leave."

"What do you mean?" Goku walked up to K and folded his arms, "You can't just come back from wherever you were and boss me around."

"Technically, I can," K didn't feel the need to remind Goku that he was his sensei, despite him learning under Master Roshi for a few days. "Don't be foolish, Goku, I don't have time for this." He grabbed the boy his collar and dragged him back to his bedroom so he could do as told.

"Where are you boys headed?" Bulma leaned against the wall, her towel slightly falling off her side as she tried to seduce K, but rolled her eyes when the man didn't even turn around when she spoke to him. She pulled her towel up and huffed when she got no answer in response either, but right when she was about to continue on with her day, he spoke up.

"Konoha."

. . .

(Outskirts of Konoha ~ With Vegeta and Raditz)

The two saiyans walked down the dirt path that would lead them to the hidden village they were looking for. They were accompanied by two other people from Iwagakure, as fill-ins for their 'genin' team, and they hadn't even cared to learn their names. They were far ahead of them as well.

The gates of the village were getting closer as they walked, and the boys looked at each other with something of a grin on their face. The Tsuchikage had given them the proverbial green light to let loose once the exams begun and they were now approaching the host village; with the actual test commencing in a week.

The road they were traveling on was full of Chuunin hopeful and their Jounin sensei. The duo of saiyans had long since scanned the crowd for any potential threats and had yet to find one, so they were thoroughly amused by their future competition. As far as they were concerned, the 'test' was going to be a cake walk, and an excellent opportunity to flex their muscles in front of the other competing villages.

Raditz looked at the village that was getting bigger with each step he took, "What's the name of this wretched place?"

Vegeta struggled to remember the name, but eventually spat it out, "Konoha."

. . .

 _This chapter was brought to you by the release of Views, because I love writing and listening to new shit. I'm sure my fellow hip-hop heads know who Ye is, he's definitely not from this planet. Another unrelated thing, I waited 26 chapters, but Goku finally learned KAMEHAMEHA! It took a lot of self control. Until next time fam, stay wAvy!_


	27. Calm Before The Storm

**27 ~**

Konoha was already a busy place, but with them being the host village for the Chuunin exams; it was overflowing with life. People from all over the world would come stay in the village to experience the exams first hand. Businesses loved all of the traffic, but the civilians weren't that fond of all the visitors. They usually weren't 'Konohagakure material' so to speak.

One of the many tourists that came to see the exams was a young man with long hair, his face framed by bangs. He wore an orange bandana around his neck, green haori, and a trademark smirk that could only be associated with the boy that hailed from the desert. It was his first time in Konoha, and he was enjoying himself so far.

He wasn't a shinobi, nor a regular citizen, but a petty thief that funded his whole trip by stealing money from those unfortunate to trust his 'services.' The teenage boy couldn't pass up the opportunity to make even more money pulling his same tricks on the traveling shinobi, and more importantly; gullible rookies who would do anything to pass.

The traveling thief had racked up at least 6,000 ryo selling answers to the written portion of the Chuunin exam. He wasn't even sure if there was a written test, but he planned on making more money before the day was over. The boy was currently counting his cash out loud as he walked through the streets of Konoha.

"Hey, that's the guy that sold me these fake ass answers!" Someone screamed out from around the corner, and his head swiveled in that direction. He immediately took off running so he wouldn't be caught by the foolish kids and be forced to give his money back, but crashed into a woman was coming from the opposite direction.

He froze in fear, being sized up the Kumogakure native Samui, and from the other direction came her two students. She furrowed her brow, "Stealing from kids isn't cool." The woman grabbed the man by his wrist and he instantly started to freak out, his face getting red and trying to get away from the woman.

"That's the asshole! He told me his name was Yamcha," Karui stomped into the scene and grabbed all of the money from Yamcha, who was too frozen in fear by Samui touching him. The genin thumbed through the money and smiled, "Thank you for the money."

Yamcha's fear of women took him over, and seeing Samui's chest that close to his face nearly made him explode. The woman tossed him onto the ground, and he scrambled away with his tail between his legs, leaving the team to stare at their newly acquired money.

Omoi was entertaining the thought that Yamcha could come back and try to kill them for the money, but Karui smacked him on the head with the cash when she saw him in deep thought. The boy rubbed at his head gently, "It's weird being the only ones from Kumogakure here." He was wondering why it was taking so long for Master Roshi's team and Goku were taking so long to arrive, maybe they got lost?

"You know K is always late to everything," Samui reminded her student and brought the two of them into her embrace. She started them walking away from where they had just stolen their money back from and began leading them toward the restaurant district. The woman didn't ask why they were trying to cheat on the test, because she knew how nervous kids could get before the test started, "They'll probably be here in few days, if they're smart."

Yamcha was not too far from them, hiding behind a wall, and watching Samui walk off with his money. She was lucky that she had a vagina or else he would tracking them down and driving a knife through their throat, but his crippling fear of women would never let that happen. He let out a deep sigh, "I'm never going to get a girlfriend like this."

"You're right," Another surprise voice made Yamcha turn around, and start backing away from another woman who made herself known to the young thief. She had her hands stuffed in the pockets of her tan overcoat, rearing her head back to get a good look at the retreating Yamcha. She took her hand out of her pocket and a snake fell out of her sleeve and slithered up to the boy.

It slithered up his leg and bared its fangs, threatening to bite him, and he froze in even more fear, "W-W-W-W-Wha, what did I do?" He asked, trying to play the innocent role as long as he wasn't accused of anything.

"You've been selling answers to our test, and I can't just let you get away with that, honey," The woman stood over him, placing her foot over his stomach and folded her arms. "You're coming with me; I think we can have some fun together."

The only thing any one saw or heard in passing was the woman dragging Yamcha away, and the boy screaming at the top of his lungs for someone to help, but it mostly went ignored, since no one had the guts to try and get him away from the feared woman.

. . .

(Elsewhere in Konoha)

The blonde haired genin sat on top of the First Hokage's head, next to his teammate Karin, and the newest addition to their team was Pepper. They all sat there in collective silence, with different things on their brains.

N wasn't particularly brought into the Akatsuki bounty hunter program on the most polite of terms, so he was frustrated to say the least. His original plan was to escape to Konoha and meet up with the groups from Kumogakure that were participating and return home with them, but he was trapped working for one of the few people on Earth despised, and that was Deidara.

Pepper felt the same way as N, being downgraded from his rank of lieutenant to 'genin' while he was representing the Akatsuki in the exams. There were plenty of youth in the Akatsuki's many programs, but apparently Deidara chose him for the mission, and it infuriated him to no end. The freckle faced bomber sighed and tried to shake his thoughts of murdering Deidara off.

Karin wasn't as mad as the two gifted children she was working with for the mission, her deal with Akatsuki was special, and had no problem working for them. It was also nice to be outside of the barely operational infirmary in their base.

Deidara groaned out loud, standing over the three children with a frown on his face, "Are you three really just going to sit here all day?" He had never been to Konoha, and was slightly satisfied that he was chosen over Itachi to oversee this mission for obvious reasons. The boy could get away with being in the village because everyone roaming the streets for the exam was a criminal to a certain degree, so he would be fine as long as he didn't cross paths with any Iwagakure natives. "Let's hit the streets, un!"

"No, we're staying right here," Pepper shot a glance back at Deidara and shook his head. "You're a fucking S-ranked criminal; I'm not trying to fight off any of those rock-head idiots you pissed off today." He wondered everyday how he or Bali weren't the leader of the explosion corps, because Deidara's intelligence made him worry more often than not.

Deidara didn't enjoy his authority being in question, especially in front of the newcomer in Karin. Him trying to flex his authority in front of N was a fruitless endeavor at this point, the boy had seen first hand him failing to control Bali and Pepper. The blonde haired 'sensei' placed his hands on hips, fuming with anger, "Fuck you, we're going down there right now, un!"

N knew Deidara was an idiot, as well as a criminal, but he never knew how he garnered the title of 'criminal,' let alone S-rank. He watched Pepper and Deidara bicker with each other for a few minutes, before he finally opened his mouth, "Slow down, what did you do in Iwagakure?" He remembered his friend Goku had recently returned from there with wanted status over his head too.

"Stole one of the village's kinjutsu, killed a few guys on my way out, nothing big," Deidara waved it off as he started to walk off the stone head, so he could roam the village like he wanted to. He didn't care what happened to his make-shift genin team until the exams actually started.

Pepper couldn't let Deidara roam the village alone in his mind, so he jumped up and ran after the captain of the explosion corps.

N had no choice but to stand up, dusting himself off, and then offered a hand to the still sitting Karin, "We have to make sure those two idiots don't get too far." He helped her off of the ground and walked off, pulling at his drawstrings like he always did as he paced behind the two higher ranking Akatsuki members.

Karin furrowed her brow, already being able to tell she'd be quite annoyed by their antics while she was in Konoha.

. . .

(Konoha Again)

Vegeta always thought of himself as a calm, rational, and level-headed person, but today that opinion was thrown out the window by the general population of Konoha. When he left the hotel, his plans included taking a tour of the village, restocking on his weapons, and getting something to eat with his team.

No where on that list was choking the air out of a preteen human boy, but it still managed to happen.

He had his hand firmly wrapped around Uzumaki Naruto's throat, holding him in the air, and prepared to end the boy's life right there. There was a great crowd in the street, surrounding the two boys as he continued to suck the life out of Naruto with a frown on his face, "You will never disrespect the saiyan name again!" The boy had insulted the prince's tail the instant he saw it, and he didn't plan on taking it lightly.

Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing, but didn't jump out to help Naruto immediately, because on one hand she quietly feared the saiyan boy, and on the other; she felt like he deserved it. Their trip to Ichiraku ramen had been delayed because he was caught gawking at the boy's tail, and when asked 'what are you looking at, boy?' His response was 'are you like, an actual monkey?'

Yeah, it was safe to say he deserved this one.

The short, ill-tempered saiyan had been choking the life out of the blue faced Naruto ever since, and no one cared enough, or had the guts to step up and save the ignorant boy. The majority of the spectators weren't even from Konohagakure, so they didn't have a say in the matter.

Late to the scene as always were Kakashi and Sasuke. The team had arranged a small gathering at Ichiraku's, and it was impossible to pass by the large crowd watching Naruto get choked to death. The copy-nin walked through the crowd and focused his killing intent on Vegeta, which made the saiyan turn his head, "I'll have you know, killing my friend Naruto here would automatically eliminate from the Chuunin exams, and I'm sure that's not what you want, right?" Of course there would be other repercussions, but Vegeta didn't seem like the one to care about them.

Vegeta still kept his grip on Naruto's neck, the boy's hands were slowly ceasing trying to pry them away, and he turned to look at Raditz. The boy nodded at him and he hesitantly dropped Naruto on the ground and walked off with his entourage. The thought of pissing the Tsuchikage off replayed constantly in his mind, since they had indeed traveled all the way to Konoha for a reason.

Naruto rolled back on forth on the ground, grasping at his throat, and his lungs were filled with fresh air once again, "Next time I see that asshol-"

Sasuke looked down on Naruto with a frown, "You're really talking tough right now, dobe? He almost killed you in seconds." He helped his teammate off the ground, the crowd of foreign shinobi slowly dissipating after the 'fight' was over.

Kakashi shook his head in silence, watching as a trio of genin walked off from the scene. Two of the members were twins, one boy and the other being a girl. Their other teammate was a fat boy with completely white skin, a otogakure bandana on his head, and icy blue eyes that caught a glimpse of the copy ninja as he walked off.

He furrowed his brow, and turned his attention back to Naruto, who had recovered after his little incident with Vegeta. The man looked down on the boy with a friend, "It's not polite to make fun of other people's flaws, Naruto." Kakashi knew full and well that it was no flaw, and Vegeta was extremely powerful, "You never know what they may be capable of."

"That doesn't mean he has the right to be a dick," The boy rubbed his throat soothingly. The only thing on Earth that could truly make him feel better was a steaming hot bowl of ramen. "I hate people like that."

Sasuke was intrigued by the Iwagakure genin's potential strength, and was highly disappointed that he wouldn't get a chance to fight him first hand in the exams, "Is it too late to rejoin the exams?" He asked somewhat optimistically.

"Yup," Kakashi said as he patted the boy on his head, walking off to their destination.

"Don't you think it's weird how he changed his mind," Sasuke wondered aloud, turning to face his two teammates who didn't seem as upset as him about the exams. Their whole graduating class would be participating, except for them, "Kakashi knows something we don't."

"He just wants us to be more prepared, we'll make it next time," Sakura tried to cool down the irritated Sasuke, but the boy simple groaned and walked off after Kakashi. She visibly deflated, hoping her optimistic statement would cheer her teammate up, but she failed miserably.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan, me and you will come back better than ever next time!" Naruto tried to do the same thing she did with Sasuke, but only got a groan in return, and she too walked off like Sasuke had done with her. The boy sighed and followed after his team.

Ramen never treated him this way.

. . .

(Hi no Kuni)

Orders kept coming through, and it was safe to say business was booming. There multiple imports being delivered to the port in the morning, and he was currently keeping track of everything that was passing through his port. The man recorded it in a small notepad and then came to a stand.

He wore a white shemagh that covered a majority of his face; the only thing being visible is his green skin and fierce onyx eyes that sized up the men entering his office. The man stood there in silence and waited for them to state their reason for stopping by.

"Junior," his subordinate spoke up, his voice shaking as he did so, "the shipment came early." The men present were obviously scared of directly dealing with 'Junior,' and he calmly nodded.

Junior walked by the nervous men and stepped onto the port and walked onto the ship with his hands behind his back. He scanned everything; making sure things were running like they were supposed to. When his father passed on his multi-trillion ryo operation to him, he didn't back down, and made sure things kept running like he had never left.

His father was widely known for his trafficking, garnering the name 'The Demon King,' supplying the whole continent with the vice of their choice. Multiple organizations made the kingpin their main priority to take down, so he decided to stay low key, and let his son run things until he could safely return.

The boy dubbed as Junior lifted the lid of a crate, nodding to himself when he saw thousands of vacuum sealed packages that were full of the notorious senzu powder. He shut the lid and turned to face one of the men present, "Transport this to Konoha immediately." The demand for senzu powder was great in Hi no Kuni at the moment, and with the Chuunin exams falling in Konohagakure this year; he was set to make another billion in the next month.

There were plenty of products to sell, but the powder was a fan favorite, and his family was the only person with the connections to get it. While it was originally a sacred healing property on his planet, his father had no problem distributing it as a stimulant for the stressed out shinobi looking for an exciting fix.

The boy walked off of the ship, and one of his subordinates followed after him, "Where are we headed next, Junior?"

"Konohagakure, I need to address something," Junior informed the man and left the man standing there with a confused expression. He walked off to act on his words, heading to prepare a bag, since business called him to be in Konoha for the duration of the exams.

Since people were trying so desperately to find the 'Demon King,' he would give them what they wanted, and make a long overdue appearance.

. . .

(Shimo no Kuni)

The group of Kumogakure natives was running behind schedule in their already late journey to Konohagakure. Master Roshi, K, Goku, Chi-Chi, and the only remaining person from N's team were strolling through Frost Country, and it was as cold as advertised. Somehow, Bulma had convinced them to take her with them to Konoha, so they were considerably slowed down by her constant need to stop and eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom.

It was a decision K was constantly regretting, and at the rate they were moving; Goku would miss the first day of the exam, and then he wouldn't be able to participate. They were currently waiting outside a restaurant while Bulma got something to eat, and he was leaning against the wall.

"If you don't mind me saying," N's last living teammate, Mao spoke up to the Limitless K with a ghost of a frown on her face, "At the rate we're moving, we won't arrive in Konohagakure until Saturday, and the test begins Friday."

"I'm aware," K took a deep breath, his eyes locking onto Bulma as she walked out of the restaurant with food she ordered to take on the go. He walked up her, his cold glare fully fixed on her, "You're slowing us down."

"I thought you shinobi liked traveling this way," Bulma laughed as she held the bag of food against her chest. "I was just letting you guys do your thing."

"No, we usually move way faster than this," Chi-Chi was obviously frustrated like her fellow shinobi, and was ready to leave Bulma in Frost Country to fend for herself. She wasn't even participating in the exam, only coming to sight see and watch the event from the stands.

"We can get there by tonight," Bulma had adopted the practice of carrying around an equipment pouch similar to a shinobi to hold all of her capsules. She pushed her food into K's grasp and he dropped it onto the ground, and the moment she was about to yell; his icy glare sent a chill up her spine. "We can take one of my daddy's vehicles."

She obviously had to show her worth to the group, lest they left her behind to navigate her way to Konoha all by herself. Bulma pulled out a few capsules and pressed them down, throwing them, and the same model of ATVs that Goku had fallen in love with in Iwa appeared in the middle of the Shimo no Kuni street.

The saiyan boy instantly ran up to one of the ATVs and hopped on, "ATV-chan, you're back!" He hugged the vehicle and was quick to rev the engine and start burning rubber.

K stared at the ATV with his usual blank stare and then looked at Bulma. It was unconventional method of travel, but they were pressed for time, and he had to make sure the team was registered for the exam. He hesitantly got on the ATV, and gestured for Mao to ride along with him, while Roshi and Chi-Chi rode together.

Bulma pushed Goku off of the ATV and got on herself, the boy having no choice but to jump back up and latch onto her. She turned and nodded at K, pretending she wasn't mad at the man for ruining her dinner, and watched in awe as the man popped-a-wheelie before driving off at a high speed.

"Seems like K-sensei is a show off," Goku rolled his eyes.

As he rode off, leading them to Konohagakure, a ghost of a smile appeared on the otherwise emotionless man's face.

He was secretly enjoying himself.

. . .

 _All the cool kids are in or on the way to Konoha, so that means things are about to get fun._


	28. Goku The Genius

**28 ~**

The group of Kumogakure shinobi and Bulma arrived in Konoha the night before, and now the morning sun was shining through the window of their hotel room. All of the genin, plus Bulma were staying in one bedroom, while K and Master Roshi had rooms for themselves.

Goku was surprisingly the first person awake. He was sitting on top of the couch, staring out of the window. Something about Konohagakure made him feel warm inside, as opposed to the mountainous terrain of Kumo. The people seemed so nice and the village was beautiful. He actually wouldn't mind living there.

The boy couldn't stay asleep; he was far too excited to lie still for eight hours. Today was the beginning of the exams and he was more than ready to get started. He was already full dressed, equipped, and ready to run straight to the venue.

The whole room started to come to life after a few more minutes, and Goku turned to see Bulma yawning out loud. He grinned and jumped off the couch and stood over her as she groaned when she saw the boy staring at her. The boy pulled her up to a sitting position, "Today is the day, Bulma!"

"Today is the day for you," Bulma collapsed back into the bed and shooed the boy away with her hand. "I plan on sleeping."She hid her head under the pillow and prayed Goku went away sooner than later.

Goku rolled his eyes, and turned around to see Chi-Chi and Mao getting out of their shared bed. He grinned at his two teammates, "Are you guys as ready as I am?" The boy asked, running up to the two girls.

Chi-Chi flicked the boy on the forehead and he stumbled backward, "Calm down, Goku," She appreciated his enthusiasm though. The girl offered a sincere smile promptly after, "We're excited too, just let us shower first." Chi-Chi waved at the boy and entered the bathroom before Mao.

The saiyan was just getting to know Mao, who was recently added to their teams in wake of the events in Hoseki, and all of the teams were short. He wanted to get to know her better before they entered a deadly exam, but K kept that from happening the moment he opened the door unannounced. The man pointed at Goku and then gestured outside the hotel room.

Goku's eyes widened and he smiled sheepishly. He walked into the hall and looked up at his sensei, "What is it?" He was expecting that he did something wrong, trying to remember everything he had done in the last few days.

" _They're_ here," K dropped a vague piece of information on Goku, which only got the man a confused expression in response. He wanted to groan and slap Goku, but that would be out of his character, so he simply shook his head in disappointment. The man shut the door of the hotel room and started guiding his student away, "The saiyans from Iwagakure."

"THEY'RE GENIN!?" He shouted out loud and K pressed his hand over Goku's mouth to keep him from waking everyone in the hotel up. The boy's shoulders slumped and the man moved his hand, "Are we still 'wanted'?"

"Yes, Goku, so I need you to stay away from them at all costs," K ordered his student and followed it up with the iciest glare he could muster. He needed Goku to know that he was deathly serious, "You're not ready for an all out battle with them."

Goku couldn't believe what he was hearing come from K's lips, and he was ready to argue with the man, but Master Roshi walked down the hallway and kept the conversation from going any further. K telling him he wasn't 'ready' to fight someone was appalling to his teenage brain, and couldn't guarantee that he would follow the man's instructions. A child as confident as Goku would fight against a Kage right now with the belief he would win.

"Good morning kids," A cheery Master Roshi greeted Goku and K, as he ruffled a hand through the genin's hair. After the boy held up his end of their deal, they were back on good terms, and he truly appreciated the pair of Mabui's panties to add to his collection. "Are you ready for the exams, Goku?"

"Yeah, I'm more than ready!" Goku exclaimed as he and Master Roshi bumped fists, shooting a glance at K while doing so.

K wasn't sure how he felt about being addressed as a 'kid,' but he'd let it slide since Master Roshi did him a favor. He folded his arms and gestured his head toward the door, "Get your students, it's time to leave." The man grabbed Goku by the arm and started dragging him down the hall way, "I need you to understand something, Goku."

"That I'm too weak to fight some kid from outer space?" Goku asked in a mocking tone, and K perked his eyebrows.

"Actually, yes," K let Goku walk in front of him and they fell into step. He patted the boy on the head like he was his favorite pet, "Don't be foolish, Goku. You'll get your chance at revenge." He pressed the button for the elevator and they stood in silence for a moment. K could feel Goku staring a hole through his head, and it was uncomfortable to say the least.

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped in. Once again, before any real debating could ensue; Chi-Chi, Mao, and Master Roshi were walking down the hallway, and the universe saved the Limitless K from the wrath of a hyperactive child once again. The rest of the Kumo-nin filled into the elevator and descended down to the lobby.

They filed out of the elevator and began their journey to the venue as a collective. The group was all sucked into their own thoughts, and could barely process a sentence. The civilians passing by were the only things making noise.

The genin were starting to get nervous as they approached the building their test was being held at. All the competing genin were crowded outside the building, since they were still preparing for the test, and they had no choice but to join the crowd. They were all talking amongst each other and barely paid attention to the group of Kumo genin that approached.

At first glance, the trio of Kumogakure rookies wasn't very intimidating. Goku was relatively short for his age, and had his hair tied up like his sensei. Chi-Chi was just as small as Goku and looked like an innocent girl, while Mao looked like someone who fit better in a library than on any battlefield. Compared to some of the competition, it almost looked like the three didn't belong.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Goku's face when eyes did start locking on him. The many sensors present to take the exam felt his strong chakra, and the eyes of a certain Hyuga clan member were firmly fixated on the child from Kumo. Goku caught wind of the Konoha genin staring him down and looked away, "What's wrong with that kid's eyes?"

K looked over to see the boy staring Goku down, and furrowed his brow when the boy shifted his gaze to him. He returned the glare to the child and then turned to look at Goku, "We killed his father," The man revealed nonchalantly and kept scanning through the crowd of genin. He remembered Kumo's failed attempt to retrieve the Byakugan like it was yesterday.

All three genin looked at K with wide eyes and shook their heads in disbelief. Konoha and Kumo historically had bad blood, and there were more than enough Konoha shinobi participating in the exam that it might become an issue. Goku looked at his forehead protector and smiled, ready to take on whatever they threw at him.

The doors to the venue opened and the proctors allowed all of the participants to enter the building. Master Roshi grinned, "We can't babysit you forever," He placed his hand on Chi-Chi's head and ruffled her hair. "Go in there and have fun!"

K shot a glare at Goku and the boy stuck his tongue out, "Don't be foolish, Goku."

All of the genin present left their senseis behind and walked into the venue. There was a large lobby for the building to accommodate all of the participating shinobi. Goku was stuck standing next to a team from Sunagakure, and a boy with cherry-red hair was glaring at him harder than K ever had.

It seemed like the foreign shinobis had a problem with him before even exchanging words, "Hey, my name is Goku," The boy bowed respectfully and got no response in return. He looked up and stared blankly at the boy who wasn't polite at all.

"You're a little short to be in the exams," The girl's teal eyes landed on the small form of Goku and smirked. She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head, "We appreciate the respect, but this isn't really the time to make friends."

The red-haired boy was still staring Goku, which the saiyan boy definitely noticed, "Your friend's eyes seemed broken, so I thought I'd say so-" Chi-Chi dragged Goku away from the trio of Sunagakure genin, since the proctor had finally started talking.

The tall man with scars all over his face made himself known to all the genin present and smirked, "Welcome, for some of you this may be your first time taking the Chuunin exams, so allow me to introduce myself: I'm Ibiki Morino, and I'll be your proctor for this first test." He holds up a sheet of paper, "The first part of the exam is a written test. There is only one rule, and that is: you cannot ask any questions. The scores will be added up at the end to see which teams pass on to the next test. Do you all understand!?"

The whole room responded with a variation of yes', so that prompted him to continue.

"Very well then, let's get this thing started," Ibiki stepped away and various Chuunin working the exam started guiding the genin teams to the test rooms.

Goku looked at Chi-Chi and Mao with wide eyes, "No one told me there was going to be a written test! I thought this was all muscle." The boy comically cried out.

Mao placed a reassuring hand on Goku's back, "If you don't mind me saying, Goku-kun, I think you're going to be fine." She smiled at her teammate and walked off.

"Don't be such a baby, Goku, let's go!"

. . .

(Konohagakure ~ The Third Hokage's Office)

As the leader of one of the strongest nations on Earth, the Hokage was usually treated with respect. All of his appointments started on time, and ended in a timely manner, but not today. He had been waiting for nearly an hour for his guest to arrive. The Third Hokage was patiently smoking out of his pipe until the man did show up.

The gravity defying hair of Kakashi Hatake was the first thing to be seen by the old man, and the jounin's single visible eye crinkled as he smiled at the old man, "I apologize for my timing, Hokage-sama." He bowed as a show of respect for the leader, despite how long he made the man wait.

Hiruzen chuckled and set his pipe down, "I almost sent a search party to find you, Hatake," He said in a jokingly serious tone. The man interlaced his fingers and set his hands down on his desk, "Are you excited to finally see our friend Goku participating in the exams?"

"Yes, and I'm sure you're going to be watching him closely too," He hadn't seen the boy walking through the village yet, but should he make it to the final rounds; he'll be able to see the progress he's made since he infiltrated Kumogakure. The man raised a curious eyebrow, "That can't be the reason you invited me here today though, sir, with all due respect."

"You are correct, Kakashi," The man sighed as he began explaining his reasoning on summoning the copy-nin. "There is a storm brewing, here in our own village, and we need more insight on what's going on." There had been rumors spreading throughout the village that didn't go unheard by him, and he wanted to stay on top of things. The last thing he wanted was an outside altercation happening in Konoha.

"I'm assuming you spoke with Jiraiya today as well," Kakashi pieced together quickly, since the legendary shinobi paid a visit to him also. It was actually the reason he had been late to the meeting with the Hokage, "Multiple traffickers have gotten into Konoha and plan on using our village as their battleground, but why?"

"I have reason to believe one of the kingpins has been operating right under our nose," The Hokage closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After what happened with Naruto and Sasuke, he was paranoid to say the least, and would feel even worse if he uncovered another covert operation in his village. The man opened his eyes and focused on Kakashi, "I need you to get to the bottom of this, for right now it's simply reconnaissance."

Kakashi was confused, "Why me?"

"Other than Jiraiya, you're the only man I can trust right now," The words were heavy on Kakashi's brain, and he simply nodded in response to the Hokage.

After dealing with Gato in Nami no Kuni, he gained some insight about the dealing of arms and drug trafficking world that happened right outside the view of the ninja world, and now the two worlds were beginning to crossover to become one entity. It only made sense that Konoha had their own underground crime ring, and it was up to him to bring it to an end.

Before, it went unnoticed, but now there was so much power that came with trafficking; it made even the 'God of Shinobi' wary of the possible outcomes. Kakashi nodded solemnly, "I'll get right to it, Hokage-sama." The man bowed once again, "I truly apologize for being late as well, it won't happen again."

The old man laughed, "You don't have to lie to me, Kakashi."

. . .  
(Konohagakure ~ Ichiraku's Ramen)

Normally the delicious taste of ramen could cure any bad mood that Naruto was in, but today it wasn't feeling the same. The boy was slowly picking at it with his chopsticks, and turned his head to see Sasuke simply staring at the bowl. He frowned, no longer wanting to sit there and sulk with his teammate, "Sasuke-kun, we need to do something!"

The Uchiha lifted his head and looked at Naruto with a raised brow.

"Let's train, or at least rip Kakashi-sensei a new asshole!" Naruto slammed his fist against the bar, and Teuchi shot him a glance. He grinned awkwardly at the owner and returned to his passionate speech, "We can at least make sure we mop the floor at the next exam."

Sasuke was confident in his abilities for this year, and was ready to compete against Konoha's other elite rookies, but Kakashi's insecurities robbed him of that chance. It didn't help that their situation with Danzo slowed them down as a team, and their recovery time fell into the time the exams were taking place, "You're right." He added his simple tid-bit to the conversation and paid for his ramen.

The two genin didn't believe they were too weak to compete, especially Naruto who felt like he had recovered from the major blood loss and other cruel experiments in the short time span. The only thing that made him wary was the thought of Danzo still being on the loose, since they never found him in the base, and has been declared missing.

Naruto suddenly devoured his bowl of ramen and paid for the bowl. He was a little down, but not enough where he would finish his ramen. The boy slowly eyed Sasuke's still steaming bowl, but the Uchiha grabbed him by the collar, "Hey what's the big deal!?"

"Hn, where's all that motivational talk now, dobe?" Sasuke questioned, as he tried to pry Naruto away from the ramen bar so they could at least do something productive.

"Why don't you two stay for another bowl, on me," The spiky white-haired man sat at the bar and gestured for the two genin to do the same. He extended his hand toward Sasuke, "I'm Jiraiya; you're the Uchiha gaki, right?" He snickered when the boy's face twisted in confusion and he slowly retracted his hand. "I'm just messing with you boy, have a seat, you too, Naruto."

Teuchi came out from the back to greet the man personally, "Jiraiya-san, what a pleasure to see you again!" He threw his towel over his shoulder and folded his arms, "What can I get for you today?"

Naruto and Sasuke were more than confused, and a bit worried. They knew of the legendary shinobi, learning about him in their academy days, but they wanted to know how he knew who they were. He was far out of their planet of skill, and it seemed he descended back to their level for a day to eat ramen with them.

"I'll take whatever these gakis had, some sake as well, and make a fresh bowl for them too," Jiraiya ordered and turned to look at the confused boys with a smile. "What, an old sage can't come hang with the youth?"

Sasuke sat down next to the sage and raised a curious brow, "How do you know us?" Everyone in Konoha had heard of all the things Jiraiya had done for the village. He was a living legend to say the least, "We're nothing but genin, we're not important."

A bottle of sake was placed in front Jiraiya with a glass and he cracked it open. He poured himself something to drink, "We have a mutual friend, with mutual interests regarding your future." That mutual friend was Kakashi, who he had spoken with not too long ago. He offered up the bottle of sake, "Care to share a drink?"

Naruto instinctively reached his hand out, but Sasuke smacked his wrist, "We're thirteen." In the Uchiha's mind, there were more important matters to be addressed at the moment. Jiraiya's surprise appearance didn't make sense to him. "What do you want with us?"

"You're such a buzz kill," Naruto pouted as he eyed the bottle of sake, but his opportunity to drink with a legendary ninja was shot down by a teenage boy.

"I agree, our friend Sasuke isn't really making this an enjoyable meeting," Jiraiya agreed with the blonde-haired boy. He took a sip of his drink and looked Naruto over, "Has anyone ever told you, you look like the Fourth Hokage, Naruto?" The man asked with a grin, and continued drinking out of his glass.

"No, never," Naruto started to think about it, but Sasuke flicked him on the head.

While he did start to notice that the boy looked eerily similar to the famed Hokage, he wasn't trying to get distracted by Jiraiya's antics, and the Uchiha turned to look at Jiraiya with a frown. He broke apart his chopsticks and prepared to eat the free bowl the man purchased, "You're avoiding the question."

"You're right," Jiraiya once again agreed with the genin and laughed to himself. He finished the little amount of sake left in his cup and turned in his seat to face the two boys. "I have an offer for you two, which I'm only going to make once. Well it's not really an offer," The man started to veer off from his point. This wasn't his first glass of alcohol today.

"Spit it out, old man!" Naruto slammed his fist against the bar like earlier, and got the same frustrated glance from Teuchi within the kitchen.

"Okay, okay, kid, calm down," Jiraiya raised his hands in a placating manner and continued to smile. "Since you didn't make the Chuunin exams this year, your sensei volunteered you two for a training trip with me to take your mind off of it." He heard about their incident with Danzo, and he at least wanted to help them.

Naruto's jaw dropped, not expecting one of the most legendary ninja to come from Konoha offering to train him and Sasuke. The boys exchanged looks and then turned to look at Jiraiya with wide eyes, "Are you serious?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"As a heart attack, gaki," The man had finished is ramen, and stood up, folding his arms over each other. "I'm not really giving you a choice either, so go pack your bags, and meet at the gate in an hour."

"How long are we going to be gone?" Sasuke asked the toad sage, but the man simply walked off.

"One hour, gakis!"

. . .

(Chuunin Exams ~ Konohagakure)

All the Chuunin hopeful were filtered into the classrooms to take a test and in the front of Goku's class was Ibiki Morino; ready to start the exam. The participants were still walking in, and Goku's eyes were stuck on a single boy who calmly walked through the entrance pulling on his drawstrings. The blonde haired Kirigakure-native looked up in seats and saw none other than Son Goku. He looked away quickly and went to his assigned seat.

Goku stood up, ready to march over to N and confront him about being with another team, but Ibiki opened his mouth, "Hey, kid, sit the fuck down." The boy slumped back into his seat and the man began explaining the actual test, "All of you have one hour to complete this test. There are ten questions on the exam, and your scores will be added at the end."

There were Chuunin on every side of the room, now passing out the actual exam. The genin picked up their pencils and Ibiki nodded, "You may begin." The led of the pencils instantly hit the paper and people were trying their best to answer the questions, except for Goku.

Goku was confused.

It was far more complicated than the exit exam from the academy, and he didn't know half of the material listed on the test. While Goku wasn't the most intelligent person, he was definitely positive, and he instantly started writing down answers with the utmost confidence whether they were right or not.

His confidence was so strong, other genin in the room were beginning their cheating antics on the boy. The two Hyuga's present were seated behind the saiyan and activated their revered Byakugan to see through his body and copy down the answers. There were others who did what they had to, to cheat off of Goku's test, and the boy was barely even noticing.

The mystery genin from Otogakure seemed to actually know the material, and the chubby genin had answered each question precisely. Sitting next to him was the Prince of all Saiyans, and he was steadily copying the snow-white child's hand movements. He mentally thanked the 'fat ass' sitting next to him for the answers.

While N had been declared missing from Kumo, he made an appearance in the exam working for the Akatsuki, and he was seated next to his previous classmate; Omoi. The boy had been staring at him the whole time, and shook his head in disappointment. They were sliding each other answers the entire test and had done so without getting caught.

The other genin had their methods of cheating to get their answers, a lot of them choosing to copy over the over confident Goku. When the test was beginning to come to a close, and all of the genin started noticing there were only nine questions on the paper; they all looked up to Ibiki with confused faces.

Forty five minutes had passed and the man decided to speak up, "It's time for the tenth and final question on the exam." He grinned and looked throughout the crowd of students, "You're free to not answer this question, but if you do; you automatically fail, so the choice is yours. Those of courageous enough to stay and answer the question have an ultimatum as well. If you get this answer wrong, you'll be barred from taking the Chuunin exams, and remain a genin forever. Once again," The man looked at the room full of frightened genin with a smile, "The choice is yours."

Chi-Chi took a deep breath, trying to make the right decision, and looked at Mao. The girl nodded reassuringly, and then she turned to Goku and frowned when she saw the boy opening his mouth, "I traveled for days to get to Konoha, I'm answering this question," He said loud enough for Ibiki to hear.

Some of the other teams present didn't feel the same way, and multiple groups got up to leave the classroom. The test was hard in its own right, and they barely knew the answers to those questions, so they didn't want to take chances with the last question.

More teams than Ibiki had ever seen before continued to walk out, and he was thoroughly amused. There was usually a loud-mouth who riled up the whole classroom, but Goku's remark mostly went unnoticed. Once people stopped leaving the room, he grinned, "Congratulations, you all passed." The whole room gasped and he nodded, "The written test was to measure your intellect and information gathering skills, and the final question was to see who was brave enough to stay and risk it all."

"That was easy," Goku said to the random genin sitting next to him and laughed. He kicked his feet up and placed his hands behind his head, but suddenly jumped up when a woman came crashing through the window, and landed on top of Ibiki's desk.

"Congratulations, gakis!" Anko was smiling from cheek to cheek as she dusted her coat off of glass, "I'm your second proctor for the Chuunin exams, and I'll be honest; some of you won't make it out alive. You will all meet me at the forty fourth training ground, tomorrow at 10AM for the second stage of the exams."

The whole classroom was dismissed, and all of the genin returned to their respective hotel rooms for the day.

While Ibiki went through the tests, he noticed that a good portion of the genin had identical answers to one lone student, and that was Son Goku. Not only were the answers identical, they were all wrong, "Amazing."

. . .

(Night Time ~ Konohagakure)

Kakashi had a long day to say the least, between his meeting with Jiraiya and the Hokage, and making sure his two students were fine with their sudden mission. He was ready to return home and get some rest, before hitting the streets once again and beginning his mission for the Hokage. The man was approaching the home he inherited from his father.

It was modest house built secluded part of the village, surrounded by trees. As he walked up to the door, he pulled out the keys he used to unlock the front door. The man stood on the porch and stuck the key into the lock, turning the knob, and entering his humble abode. He set his keys down on a small dresser not too far from his door, and left his sandals in the door way.

The house was pitch-black, and the copy-nin walked into the kitchen, turning his lights on as he did so. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water, shutting the door when he was done. When the man turned around, a woman was leaning against the wall of the entryway to the kitchen. He was instantly on the defensive, pulling a kunai out and prepared himself to kill whoever this calm intruder was.

Samui was holding a glass of wine in her hand, frowning when Kakashi instantly got ready for a fight, but she expected nothing less of a trained killer. She raised her glass, "You didn't have any wine, so I bought some," The woman ditched her usual outfit, and adopted a face mask and a form fitting black jumpsuit. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and the woman was barefoot, since she had truly gotten comfortable in the man's home, "I only came here to talk, if that's cool."

Kakashi furrowed his brow, still on guard after discovering a random woman within his house. He looked her over and took in her features, the sizable bust was what caught his attention, but being practical; he saw no weapons on her person, and her dress was tight enough he would see any hidden items.

The man shifted uncomfortably and put his kunai back in his equipment pouch, "Have a seat, just know I'm watching you." He guided her to his small dining room with a table that had a single seat. The Jounin sensei usually ate alone, and wasn't expecting guests, "What do you want?" He asked the woman as he pulled the chair out for her to sit.

Samui sat down calmly and swished the wine around in her glass, "We know Konohagakure has intel about Goku," She took a sip from her glass and then set it down on the table. "We're willing to put everything behind us in exchange for information on Jirou."

"It seems like you already know something," Kakashi chose his words wisely as he leaned against the wall. They had only recently discovered Jirou in the Root base, and not much was known about him. The only thing he could confirm is the boy was a definite experiment, "I just met the boy, there's not much I can tell you."

Samui nodded and moved on, "What were your student's involvements?" She had made her rounds through Konoha during the day. The security was very lax at the hospital, and she managed to pull all kind of records while she was there. The only thing that was hard to retrieve was records on Jirou.

"From what I can see, involuntary blood donation," Kakashi once again chose his words wisely and tried to retain as much as valuable information as possible. While she wasn't armed, she was still a skilled kunoichi who could try to kill him through other methods, which is why he didn't open the bottle of water. He was going to replace everything in his house, "I believe they were helping keep the boy alive."

The blonde haired woman picked up her glass and took a big gulp. She let out a sigh after she had swallowed the wine, "I doubt you're going to let me waltz out of here without a fight." The man nodded and she rolled her eyes, ducking under the table and kicking it up to protect herself from the inevitable kunai that was thrown. It nearly tore through the wood table, but it stopped right before her nose and she let out a sigh of relief.

The women tucked and rolled into the kitchen and tried to make her way to the back of the house. The copy-nin was quick on his feet, and was hot on her trail. She made her way to the bedroom and sprinted full speed, so she could jump through the already opened window.

She had planned this out before he returned and was dashing across the field and went to blend in with the dark trees.

By the time Kakashi mimicked her and jumped out of the window she was long gone. The man cursed under his breath, and summoned his pack of nin-ken. He looked down on his tracking team, "A woman just escaped here, she can't be too far."

"That's no way to court a lady, Kakashi," The smallest of the pack joked.

"She's snooping around looking for classified information, I need her found tonight," Kakashi ordered and the whole squad of nin-ken disappeared to find the woman.

He dashed into the surrounding forest to find the woman as well, hoping she didn't get too far.

. . .

 **The first chapter of Boruto came out today and Agents of Shield was very lit. I'm very entertained so here's a new chapter to entertain you.**

 **The participating teams for the Chuunin Exams are (as far as plot characters)…**

 **Team Gai  
Team Asuma  
Team Kurenai  
Team Baki  
Team Nappa  
Team Deidara  
Team Samui  
Team K/Roshi  
Team Kabuto  
Otogakure Team (Lapis, Lazuli, and 19)**


	29. Still At Large

**STILL AT LARGE ~ 29**

Goku outstretched his arms and yawned out loud. He was excited the day before for the exams, but waking up at ten o'clock was too much for him. The boy struggled to keep his eyelids opened as he stared blank at Anko Mitarashi standing at the front of the crowd. His eyes were slowly drifting to the setting their second test was taking place, "It's just a big forest."

Chi-Chi pinched Goku on the arm, hoping the boy would stop talking, "That's the whole point, it's known as the _Forest of Death_ ," she tried to scare her teammate, but the only person on their team who shuddered at the name was Mao. Goku continued to look on tiredly as he ran a hand through his messy bed-head, "Maybe if you didn't stay up doing god knows what, you wouldn't be tired."She pulled out a hair tie and tried to put Goku's hair back in an upwards ponytail.

The saiyan boy liked his hair spiky, but Mabui, Chi-Chi nor K would let him wear his natural hair-do. He ducked and dodged Chi-Chi's fast, hair-tie wielding hands and avoided the ponytail for his second part of the exam. As he backed away from the angry girl, he ended up bumping into the male Hyuga that was staring at him the day before. He turned around and stumbled backward with wide eyes.

Neji Hyuga was far from pleased to cross paths with the alien child, "Perhaps it's fate that we meet here, Son Goku."He had done his research on the Kumogakure teams after the first exam and he was ready to do battle with any one of them at any given time. "I will not forgive your village for what you have done to my family."

Goku didn't know how to respond. He felt sorry for whatever had happened between Kumo and the Hyuga clan, but an apology wouldn't change what occurred. Chi-Chi pulled him away from Neji, who still stared at the trio and flicked him on the forehead, "Oi! I didn't do anything this time."

"If you don't mind me saying, Goku-kun," Mao stepped up and placed her hand on her teammates shoulder. "Everyone you have encountered hasn't been fond of you. Chi-Chi and I think you should stop talking for the rest of the exam, you're only creating enemies."

The boy rolled his eyes and pouted his lip.

"Don't worry, kid," Anko placed her arm around Neji's shoulder and he looked up with disgust at the woman touching him. "He'll be all yours once those gates open, but first," She raised her voice so all the examinees could hear her. "Before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out!"She pulled out a stack of papers and held them high for everyone to see.

"I need you all to sign these agreement forms!"Anko continued, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "There will be deaths in this one, and if I don't have you sign these…It will all be my responsibility."She laughed it off and got a kick from all the disturbed glances she got from the participating genin. "I'm going to explain the second test for you all, and then you can turn the forms in at the booth behind him."

She passed off the stack to Goku and the boy stared at it with a confused expression. After being smacked on the head by Chi-Chi he took his sheet and passed it along to his teammates.

Anko let go of Neji and placed her hands on her hips, "The second test is simple, you will attempt the ultimate survival."There was a single pained sigh that came from Konoha's own Shikamaru Nara that caught her attention, which made her smile even harder. "First about the area, around practice arena number 44, there are 44 locked gates. A forest, river, and a tower in the center and from the gates to the tower is about 10 kilometers."

She gestured toward the forest behind her, "During the survival here, you only have one task, and that is to do whatever it takes to retrieve the other scroll and make it to the tower."Anko pulled out the two scrolls for them to see. "Half of the teams will get Earth scrolls, while the other half gets Heaven scrolls. In order to pass, you need to make to the tower with both scrolls in _five days_."

Choji yelled out, "FIVE DAYS!?"He placed his hands on his stomach and frowned, "When will we eat?"

"There's plenty of food in the forest," Anko explained, "Just try not to get eaten by those man-eating animals, you'd probably make a good meal."The woman shook her head and tried to get back on track, so she could finally send them off to take the exam. "There's only two ways to be disqualified, if you one of your teammates dies, or if you don't make it to the tower with both scrolls."

"Is there an option to quit?"A taller genin wearing a straw hat asked.

"No, there's no damn quitting, you will be in the forest for all five days," Anko rolled her eyes and held up the scrolls once more. "One last thing, you cannot look inside the scrolls until you make it to the tower, understood?"Everyone present grunted in affirmation and she nodded. "Now go and exchange those forms for the scrolls so we can get this thing started, gakis."

Goku signed at the bottom of his forms as his teammates did the same. He turned to see a bead of sweat roll down Mao's face and he grinned, "Don't worry, we're not losing at all!"He shook her excitedly and she started to look sick at the thought of killing someone for a simple scroll.

The trio of Kumogakure genin was assigned to Gate 12, and after they had gotten their 'Heaven' scroll, that's where they followed the instructor. Goku ran a hand through his spiky hair and yawned once more, "You think I have enough time to sleep before this starts?"

A loud voice boomed throughout the whole area, "THE TEST BEGINS NOW!"The man standing at the gate unlocked it and the three walked through calmly.

"To answer your question, no," Chi-Chi responded dryly as she walked, but suddenly turned around to see a frozen Goku.

The saiyan was stuck standing in front of the gate. His senses were far greater than Chi-Chi and Mao's, so several powerful figures energy fixating on only him was an impossible feeling to miss. He walked forward, "They're all coming for us."The boy started to stretch out his muscles; he was impossibly calm now that he accepted what was coming for him, "Too many for me to count."

Mao started to show her worth to the team quickly, "There are twelve people honing in on Goku-kun, six of them have monstrous chakras. We should start moving," The girl was a skilled sensor and she didn't exactly let on how good she was until then. She turned to smile at the two, but they were standing with wide eyes. "It's inevitable that they'll run into obstacles, so we should move around them."

"How did you know that?" Goku asked with a curious brow as they calmly entered the 'Forest of Death.'

" **Toki Jun no Jutsu (Net Technique)** ," Mao informed her teammates so they'd know what she was capable of from that point on. "My mom taught it to me before we left for the exam, I won't divulge on how it works, just know I'm always watching over us."

Chi-Chi sighed, "This is going to be fun."

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ Gate 20)

Lapis crouched down and began stretching while his sister and his other silent teammate looked at him with furrowed brows. He stood up and placed his arms around their shoulders, "We should get started shouldn't we?"He asked with a grin.

"Affirmative," the chubby pre-teen said robotically to the pair of twins. He took a few steps forward and looked back at the pair of twins, "We must focus on collecting data, we have five days to get the scrolls."

"We have the whole exam to 'collect data,' I'd rather have some fun right now, "Lazuli nudged her brother and they both shared a laugh. When chubby Oto genin was staring blankly at them she frowned, "9, what's the problem?"

"Lord Orochimaru stressed that we must act now, this is the only time we won't be supervised by Konoha officials," the newly dubbed 19 said with a straight face. He jumped into the trees and took off in the direction of the other participants.

"He sure has a hard-on for this whole data collection thing," Lapis joked as he followed after 19 and his twin sister fell into step with them. As they traversed through the trees, the sounds of blood curdling screams and blades clashing filled his ears. It was like music to him and he was ready to join the fray.

"Do we have a specialty? It seems like all these other teams have a specialty," Lazuli mused aloud as they bounced through the trees. Their team was simply thrown together by Orochimaru due to their relation, but the boy wasn't seeing how they meshed. "We should come up with a cool name or something."

"Well what are we good at?"His sister asked him as she scanned over the forest floor and saw no other genin teams to pounce on. "You're good at killing people, I know that."

"So are you," Lazuli nodded along with his sister and they both made noises of agreement as they traveled. "And chubs is good at finding stuff, kami we're a fucking search and destroy tea-" He was tripped up by the most simple trick they taught in the academy, and that was ninja wire.

His body went plummeting to the ground but was jerked back up after he was tied up by the ankle. Lazuli looked up and saw his two teammates looking down on him with disappointment. He grit his teeth as he reached into his pouch to pull out a kunai and cut himself down. He flipped back and landed on the forest floor.

Lapis and 19 dropped down from the trees and his sister pushed her brother to the ground. "You're so stupid," the girl scratched her head and then placed her hands on her hips. She walked past her brother, "Where are they, 19?" Lapis knew they were being watched and she wanted to get the inevitable fight over with, and possibly get a scroll for it.

19's eyes shot around the forest quickly and he was staring back at his teammate in an instant, "There are three of them." He pointed in the trees, another set of trees in the opposite direction, and lastly on the forest floor. "There's an Aburame, Hyūga, and Inuzuka. The Aburame placed his kikaichū on Lapis when they trapped Lazuli."

Hinata stirred from her position and a bead of sweat rolled down her head. She wasn't expecting for their plan to be destroyed that easily and now she was exchanging glances with her teammates. The girl looked at Shino and he nodded. She readied herself to jump down and engage, waiting for the signal.

Kiba and Akamaru initiated the exchanged, tearing through the clearing using their Gatsuga technique, which served as the signal for Team 8. The trio had no choice but to break away from the vicious ninken-shinobi duo to avoid being torn apart. While they spread out through the clearing, Hinata activated her Byakugan to scan the three opposing genin, and found the scroll they were looking for on the body of 19.

Following the next part of their plan, she jumped from the tree and ran across the clearing to disable the chubby boy and retrieve the scroll. Shino and Kiba targeted Lapis and Lazuli so Hinata wouldn't have to worry being attacked from behind while she fought. The girl closed the distance between her and 19; the two were instantly exchanging blows.

The Oto genin was quick to decipher her fighting patterns, and saw that the shy girl was going to be on the offensive the entire time. Her Jyuken was respectable, but the moment she tried to stab the tenketsu in his shoulder, he tucked low, and tackled her to the ground. He flipped her over and locked her in a tight grappling hold. He grinned while doing so, "Statistically speaking, we're your worst nightmare." He said in reference to how quickly the battle was in his team's favor.

She ignored his taunt and managed to wiggle her hand free, stabbing her index and middle finger into his neck, and finally broke away from his grip. The girl rolled across the forest floor and took a deep breath, feeling a strong fatigue wash over her body. Fighting 19 was draining her in every aspect, and the battle had just started.

Normally a strike to the neck would make any shinobi falter, but 19 was seen rubbing at it idly with a ghost of a smile on his face. Hinata squinted her Byakugan enhanced eyes so she could take a closer look at the boy, and was confused by what she saw. Her experience with the Byakugan allowed her to see how chakra moved through the body, and how it felt when she interacted with it. People's chakra was reflective to them, such as Naruto who had a warm, strong chakra with a hint of something else.

19's chakra didn't look or feel real at all. There was something else entirely flowing through his body, with minute hints of actual chakra in it, but for the most part artificial energy was his power source. He was also capable of forcing his tenketsu back open like it was nothing, and her skin began to crawl at all the possibilities. She braced herself once more as the boy beckoned her to come forth once more.

After being so easily disabled, the passive girl was wary about fighting 19 up close, but her range was limited. Someone like Shino would have been better off fighting to get the scroll, and now she was starting to ponder the boy's comment. Perhaps he was really her worst nightmare in battle.

When he saw how nervous she was, he grinned and ran in. He knew they would stand there all day if he left it up to her. She had moved onto the defensive, and used her superior footwork to avoid his hits, so he decided to sweep low and knock off of her feet. It wasn't a bad plan, since it jumbled her pattern, and she had to jump to avoid the kick.

Despite how fat he was, he was agile, using one of his hands to grab onto her ankle, and his other to spin off of like a break dancer. He used his strength to throw the girl against the base of a tree and she hit the ground with a thud. The boy came to a stand after his show of flexibility and began walking toward her downed body.

Hinata had never been thoroughly outclassed during her time in Konoha, so part of her was shocked. Her body was exhausted and she could barely move after only fighting for a few minutes. When she looked up, she saw 19 standing over her with a devilish grin, and his eyes glowing red. She grit her teeth and tried to lash out once more, but he forcefully planted his foot in her gut, and she spit out a bit of blood.

His glowing eyes shot out beams that burned through part of her back. She screamed out and 19 crouched down, placing his hands around her cheeks. He lifted her face up so he could stare in her eyes, with a strange smile that would surely give her night terrors for weeks.

His hands were the next part of his body that started glowing. She was unfortunate enough to see the mechanisms that were installed in his hands, and slowly but surely began draining her of all her energy. When he was done, their eyes were still locked onto each other. She was fading in and out of consciousness, and struggled to move while he was still holding her.

Her pain for now was temporary, but what he proceeded to do next would scar her for the rest of her life.

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ With Vegeta)

Mai had zero intention of becoming a shinobi while she was an orphan in Iwagakure, but due to how weak the military had become; there was a draft in Iwa. To her, it was unfortunate that she fit the mold of the perfect soldier, according to the Tsuchikage, and her life had gone down hill from that point (in her opinion). She was currently clinging on for dear life on the 'Prince of All Saiyans.'

The boy was adamant about hunting down Son Goku the first chance he got. She had heard about the boy's exploits during his stay in Iwagakure, but she didn't feel as strongly as Vegeta did. Since he was the unspoken captain of their team, they were weaving through the trees as they honed on the brother of Raditz's location. The wind blowing in her face was the least bit of comforting.

The two saiyans seemed accustomed to this form of traveling, and were barely twitching while moving at such high speeds. No one was capable of tracking them at this rate, and she would be glad when her feet could touch the ground, since vertigo was a real thing for her.

She beginning to feel nauseous, "Can you fuckers slow down?" Ever since she was broken from her team and added onto 'Team Nappa' for the exams, she had to get used to a lot of new things. The two aliens were the least pleasant people on Earth, "I will throw up on your back."

"If your filthy human vomit even grazes my skin, I'll make sure nothing ever comes out of your throat again," Vegeta threatened as he continued to fly through the Forest of Death. He didn't particularly care for the human addition to their team, but in order for them to participate they needed three people, so enter Mai. He ducked under the trees and continued to fly as he got closer to Goku's location.

As Vegeta and Raditz were ready to continue their path to Goku, they were blocked by a single boy standing on a branch with his arms folded. Gaara's empty eyes were focused on the trio of Iwagakure genin, and he didn't intend for them to pass without a fight. As they got near him, he raised his hands and began guiding his infamous sand from its gourd.

Retrieving the scroll from them was the least of his concerns; he had days to complete the task. His main goal was to test his strength against the likes of Vegeta or Raditz. Never in his life had he felt a malice stronger than his, yet when he crossed paths with the two saiyans when they were among the 'humans' he almost felt a chill run up his spine. It was an otherworldly experience, and he figured they had to be close to him in terms of strength.

Raditz stopped in the air and stared at Gaara with a raised brow, "Has this boy lost his mind, Vegeta?" He looked to his partner for answers, and the Prince was now rolling his neck.

"Let's make this fast," Vegeta urged his fellow saiyan, and then he turned to face Gaara. He planned on ending the battle in an instant, with Mai still latched onto his back. He shot forward and planted his knee into Gaara's gut, sending him flying across the forest. The Prince was much faster than the Sunagakure genin anticipated, and he paid for underestimating him that easily.

Before Vegeta could shoot off and continue with Gaara, a fierce gust of wind blew him and Raditz back, smacking into the base of a tree. Mai released a pained groan, since her body had been unintentionally volunteered as the Prince of All Saiyan's human-shield. All three of them were disgruntled by the surprise attack, and now had no choice but to rid themselves of the threat.

"Seems like that kid got the best of you, Prince," Mai poked Vegeta and laughed, and the killing intent radiating off of his body made her finger slowly retract to her side. "Oops, struck a nerve didn't' I?" She asked, and was suddenly dropped onto the ground with no remorse.

"I hate this planet even more with every passing second," He shook himself off from the shock of being surprised and Mai as well. The alien couldn't go all out with a twelve year old girl attached to his back, despite how good of a story it would be to boast about when he returned. He looked at Raditz, and the two nodded at each other.

Temari had made herself known after firing off the strong wind blast to keep the saiyans at bay. She leaned against her giant fan and grinned at the two opposing boys. It amused her that, that much power was stored inside two prepubescent boys, and she actually had to recognize them as actual threats, "I control the air, kids," She taunted the two with a smile.

The moment she saw Vegeta's body move a single inch, she hoisted her fan into the air and swung it forcefully to generate another gust of wind. The two boys had to ascend higher than blast to avoid being turned into mush on the side of a tree. They weren't, however, expecting the wind tunnel to follow them into the air and trap them.

Small slashes from the wind were cutting into their bodies, and to top the attack off; two large hands made from sand rose into the air and smashed Raditz and Vegeta into in between its palms. The source of the hands was Gaara, who had risen back to the trees after being knocked off so easily by Vegeta, "This is my fight, Temari!"

"Gaara, we're a team!"

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ With Team Deidara)

The goal for the trio representing the Akatsuki was to move straight to the tower, and wait for all survivors with scrolls to come tired out, so they could take them down and be done, but plans change. It wasn't another team of genin that managed to subdue N, but one of the oversized animals that lived in the forest. He shifted uncomfortably inside the throat of a large snake and furrowed his brow.

Thanks to Karin and Pepper, they were separated not too long after entering the forest, and he had to fend for himself while looking somewhere to setup camp. Out of no where, a snake sprung out from the water and swallowed him whole, and now he was using his chakra to stick to the creature's throat. He sighed, having only been inside the snake for a few moments.

He poured his explosive chakra into his hands and the whole inside of the snake exploded outward. N took a deep breath and wiped off all the blood and other bodily fluids that covered him in the process. He looked at his clothes after and frowned, having just got them before he left for Konoha, and he had taken a liking to his new attire.

The blonde looked around worriedly and listened to everything going on around him. He couldn't see, hear, or feel the presence of his teammates and that made him audibly groan. The boy pulled on his blood covered drawstrings and turned around to see Karin with her face covered in blood, "How the hell did you sneak up on me?"

"That's the least of our worries idiot!" She screamed at N while pointing at her blood splattered face. The girl narrowly escaped an ambush not too long ago, and Pepper told her to go find N. "There's a grass-nin out there fighting Pepper right now and he needs back up."

"What happened to you?" He said as they both took off back into the inside of the forest, but she simply shook her head. "This guy must be strong if Pepper needs back up." The black-haired boy pretending to be a genin for Deidara's sake was far past Genin level, probably being able to go toe-to-toe with the some of the village's best shinobi. For him to need assistance must've meant something crazy was happening.

Crazy was exactly the word to describe the battle scene when the two others returned. The trees were littered with snakes, varying in size. Some had been blown to pieces by Pepper, while others were still ready to jump out and attack, but they were told to stand down by the lone man standing at a higher point in the trees. His straw hat tipped low, but his snake-like tongue slithered out of his mouth upon seeing N and Karin returning to the battle.

Pepper was crouched down on the ground, breathing heavily. He was covered in blood all over, and his clothes were in tatters after having to engage one of the most legendary shinobi ever _alone_. The last time the two crossed paths, it was a dud by all means, but regardless a fight with one of the Sannin was not one many people lived to retell. He wasn't expecting to see _him_ of all people in the Forest of Death.

N had only met the man once, but the energy radiating off of his body was none other than him. He might have done a good job concealing it before, but standing in the trees was none other than Orochimaru, despite how good his disguise was. His skin crawled a bit, since the last time he saw him; he had managed to run Bali, Deidara, and Pepper without even raising a finger, "What do you want with us?"

The snake snickered and raised his hat to reveal his face, "I simply came to retrieve what's mine."

. . .

 **I wish there was like a status update feature for Fanfic or something, because I like to keep people posted as far as stories and shit. You can thank the Chance 3 / Coloring Book vibes for getting this chapter out. I'm setting up the major fights, save for our favorite shinobi Son Goku. I'll let that one be a surprise.**

 **For my fanfic family leaving all kinds of reviews, thank you! I really appreciate it, and it definitely helps the process whether it be positive or negative. My favorite review has been from 'StoneTheLoner' who said my fight scenes were unreadable. Poor guy didn't even make it past chapter 3 when it gets good lmao. Shoutout to Steven Bodner, DarkKitsuneFluffy, the guy who left the review in Spanish, and all my other homies reading this story.**

 **one last thing, should I make the average chapter longer, or keep it the way it is (10 pages per chapter)?**

 **Ok bye.**


	30. HEAVEN, HELL, AND FALLEN ANGELS

**HEAVEN, HELL, AND THE FALLEN ANGELS ~ 30**

Everything was easy, as far as Goku was concerned. While other teams were panicking, and rushing into the battle to try and find a scroll, Team K/Roshi was currently setting up camp. They decided to find a safe spot for now, and hit the forest at night when the other genin let their guard down for the day. The trio felt safe enough to split up and find materials, which Goku had been given the task of getting food.

The group set up camp in a secluded area that wasn't far from the river that passed through the forest. The plan was to move along the stream, which would carry them all the way to the tower. He was currently throwing bait into the water and waiting for an unlucky fish to bite on. He was sitting on the coast of the river quietly, whistling a jaunty tune while doing so.

Thanks to Mao's sensor abilities, they were able to navigate around any possible enemies, and find the safest spot. She had shuffled off back into the forest to find wood to use for fire, while Chi-Chi was setting up traps around their camp, and other potential camp sites. As long as they communicated, they would avoid any unwanted trouble, and would be able to execute their plan without hassle.

After sitting there for close to a half-hour, a fish finally bit onto the hook of his make-shift device. Using a stick, ninja wire, some loose hooks and bait he found lying around; he made his own fishing rod. He pulled back on his rod and had a surprising battle for supremacy on the end of his hook. The boy threw his arm back in frustration, and a giant bass landed on the ground.

He cheered out loud and set his fishing rod on the ground, watching the fish flap around for it's last moments, and grinned when it went limp. The boy looked away for one moment to get out his kunai, so he could gut it and get rid of the bones, but when he turned back to look at the fish it was... running away?

He knew his alien eyes had to be mistaking reality. The boy realized that it might actually get away if he just stood in awe, "HEY!" He dashed after the shockingly fast fish with tiny feet. He ran and grabbed the rod, which it was still attached to, and pulled back on the ninja wire.

Goku showed his expertise with the wire, and managed to work his hands like a puppet master to tie the fish by the 'ankles.' He pulled it back to his feet, and moved the body of the fish to the side, to reveal the wily baby chimp that was grinning at Goku.

Before the boy could pounce on the small primate, it crawled up Goku's body quickly and perched on top of his head. It went through his hair and let out a laugh when he tried to grab it off of his head, but crawled down to his waist and removed his equipment pouch with its tail, "Ha-ha, sucker!" The animal laughed at Goku.

The chimp jumped off of Goku and took off across the river, revealing its ability to use chakra and walk on water. Goku's eye went wide and instantly took off behind the deceptively fast chimp and bounced across the river with amazing speed, which was leading to the other side of the forest.

His mind was in jumbles now. Not only had the animal _talked_ to him, but it showed the ability to manipulate its chakra and walk on water. He had seen some things in his limited days a shinobi, but talking animals? The alien from a different part of the galaxy couldn't believe such a thing existed.

The boy was slapped back into reality when he realized he could be running into an elaborate trap. It was too late to make a plan, because as soon as he touched down on the other side of the river; he looked up and saw an enemy trio of genin. He watched as the chimp climbed up the tree they were standing on and return to his owner, "Got the scroll cap', this sucker didn't even see it coming!"

The leader of the small pack of genin was a boy with deep tan skin, and spiky hair that had two elevated tufts on each side of his head. He grinned upon seeing Goku tumble out of the water, his sharp teeth gritting together as he did so, "This is the kid that gave Vegeta a run for his money?" He asked, looking at his teammates and they nodded. He rubbed at the large birth mark on cheek and then shrugged his shoulders, "I bet I can beat him without turning."

"As long as I don't have to," His male teammate voiced off, running a hand through his curly silver hair. He sighed and crouched down on the branch, looking down on Goku now, "If he kills you, we'll get disqualified, and that'll be kind of cool."

"Yeah, I want to go home," The final teammate added to the conversation, her hair put up into two adorable buns. Her brown eyes complimented her sun-kissed desert skin and burgundy jumpsuit. She too was looking at the aloof Goku, who just wanted his equipment pouch back.

The boy with the spiky hair reached into the equipment pouch and found the Heaven scroll that his team needed. He held it up for Goku to see, grinning at the boy as he did so, "What are you going to do, kid? We have your scroll." He flung the remains of the equipment pouch and all of Goku's weapons fell onto the ground. He started laughing, while his teammates looked at him with bored expressions, "Your best bet is running back to your team."

Goku's eyes scanned the three genin over, and took in all the major details about them. They were all draped in shades of burgundy and brown, and had their headbands tied around their right arms. The leader had mentioned Vegeta, so they were obviously from Iwagakure, "I'm not running anywhere." Goku smiled cheekily and smashed his fist into his open palm, "I'll fight to get my scroll back!"

The boy opened his mouth confidently, "Ha! It's three-on-on-"

"No it's not," The silver haired boy alerted his eager teammate. "Kin, we have the scroll, there's no reason to fight."

"Isamu is right."

The boy instantly got flustered with his team and began turning red. His whole head was engulfed in flames like Hades and he stomped his foot on the branch, "SHUT THE FUCK UP! I SAID WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT AND THAT'S FINAL!" Kin took a deep breath and his face returned to normal. His teammates rolled their eyes and he smiled, "See, now I'm cool."

"You're still on your own," His female teammate, Airi repeated and sat down on the branch. She shooed him away, "Have fun."

While they continued to argue amongst themselves, Goku ran forward and gathered his scattered equipment. He grabbed a decent length of ninja wire, a kunai, and an explosive tag. The boy tied the wire around the kunai, and then threw it forward, stabbing it into the branch all three of them were standing on.

When they came to realize what he was doing, it was already too late. The boy gained some momentum by running and used the wire to swing himself up to their position and kick Kin out of the tree. He landed perfectly on the branch and dropped the explosive tag, before jumping off to follow Kin's body. He knew better than to fight three people alone, so he would spread them out for the moment.

Kin was the person holding his Heaven scroll that he was desperately trying to recover. If Chi-Chi and Mao found out that he lost it, he'd probably be beaten to a pulp by Chi-Chi who had trusted him not lose it. He would focus his energy on the hot-headed Iwa-genin and then tried to make a run for it, since his teammates didn't seem like the confrontational type.

The black-haired Iwa native was disgruntled by the not-so-surprise attack. If he and his teammates weren't bickering, that would have never happened. His summon animal had long since disappeared when he no longer needed him, and he planned on fighting Goku alone to prove his strength. He rolled backward and bounced to a stand, "Bring it on, runt!"

As much as Goku wanted to test his new technique in battle, that his was trump card, and took too much to prepare. He settled by dashing across the forest floor, picking some more of his loose kunai off of the ground and threw them at Kin. As his enemy moved, he flew through hand seals and decided to test another technique he picked up learning under Shido in Iwagakure.

Using the kunai throwing as a feint, Kin had moved right into the position Goku wanted him to be in, and he fired off shapeless blasts of fire that ended up engulfing the whole area. The blasts were too wide for anyone to straight dodge, so he knew Kin would at least leave that attack being badly burnt.

Goku wasn't quick enough to react to Kin flying through the flames, his whole body engulfed in fire, but he wasn't burning. The boy planted his flaming foot into Goku's chest and sent him flying across the forest floor.

The saiyan smashed into the base of a tree, and the large tree threatened to abandon its roots and fall over after the impact. Goku's whole body ached, and his shirt had been singed by the kick. There would be a foot-shaped burn on his chest for the rest of the exam and he groaned out in pain after the quick attack. He tried to push himself to stand, and caught glimpse of Kin walking toward him.

The Iwa-genin was definitely on fire, but he wasn't screaming in pain. He had complete control over it and grinned at the downed Goku, "Come on, kid, I am fire!" His hair was now standing on end and flowing like an actual flame, "That was your biggest mistake!"

He dashed forward and tried to smash Goku's head in, but the boy rolled out of the way and swept low. Kin nearly tumbled to the floor, and Goku used that as his chance to put some distance between him and the living fire standing before him. He backed up a bit, and saw his teammates slowly strolling onto the scene to watch the fight.

Goku didn't have any equipment left to fight Kin at range, and just coming in contact with him burned like hell, so he needed a new way to fight him. The boy had no time to think, since Kin was dashing at him once more, and backed into the tree. Goku did a backwards cart-wheel, sticking to the wood, and shifted his body so he could run up the base of the tree. He got up to the branches and bounced away from branch to branch. Goku knew the hot-headed genin would give chase.

Kin cursed under his breath, "He's running away?"

"KIN, HE'S RUNNING AWAY!" Isamu yelled out at Kin, as if his teammate didn't just see the saiyan run away.

"Don't let him get away, Kin," Airi added in.

The flames burned even stronger when he turned his head to look at his team, "SHUT UP, I KNOW THAT HE FUCKING RAN OFF. LET'S GO FIND HIM!" The boy shot into the air, using his flames to propel him, and took off in the direction that Goku went.

"I think I'm going to stay here," Isamu sat down and crossed his legs, "We already got the scroll."

"Yeah, I am too," Airi sat down next to Isamu and the two sat there in silence.

Team work was over rated anyway

. . . 

(Forest of Death ~ With Mao)

Mao was a smart girl who knew how to work. All of the fire-wood she was finding, she'd seal it into a scroll and keep it moving. With her Toki Jun no Jutsu, she was constantly scanning the area for threats, and so far had come across none. For the most part, she was done with her piece of their setup, having gathered enough fire wood to burn for a couple of nights.

It was approaching the top of the day, and since they were inside the Forest of Death she hadn't broken a sweat. Averting problems was second nature to her, but as she made her way back around the outskirts there was a problem staring her right in the face. She entered the area warily, as a trail of dead bodies was slowly leading her back the camping spot her team had chosen. After seeing three teams worth of genin dead, she stopped, and did a scan of the area.

How could she have possibly missed this much fighting going on? She looked over the scene, and didn't see any blood staining the ground, or cuts on their bodies. The bodies only looked pale and their eyes were lifeless. When her jutsu sent back the data she wanted, there were still no traceable chakras, which made her finally break that sweat, and her heart started racing.

She had no choice but to investigate, because one of her teammates could have returned to the site and gotten attacked along with the other shinobi. Mao paced slowly past the trees that led to another open clearing, and she finally heard voices talking amongst themselves calmly. The girl hid behind a tree and listened in on their conversation.

"So we just sit here and wait?" Lapis asked, sitting on top of a dead shinobi as a cushion. "I think we could be doing something way more fun than this."

"Yes, we wait. Son Goku could be returning at any moment," 19 shot off in his monotone voice and Lapis rolled his eyes in response.

"This whole exam isn't about you, 19; you can't have all the fun!" Lazuli nudged her team mate and he shot a blank stare at her in return.

"Yeah, he and that Hyuga girl seemed to really hit it off," Lapis joked with the drone-like preteen, "What did you do with that girl anyway?"

"We're being watched," 19 cut that conversation short and hit them with some current events. His eyes were locked on a lone tree on the other side of the clearing and started walking toward it, "There's no reason to hide."

Mao swallowed a large wad of spit into her otherwise dry throat. After seeing the trail of bodies that led up to the clearing, she didn't want to see what had caused them anytime soon. She pushed herself off of the tree and took off running back the way she had came. Her best bet was going to be trying to link up with either Chi-Chi or Goku, but her thoughts were cut short when a foot stuck out from the trees and tripped her onto the ground.

It felt like her spine cracked when 19 dropped from the air and landed on her. The foot that had tripped her up happened to be Lapis, who walked out with his arms folded and a wide grin on his face. They caught her by surprise when she let her net-sensing technique down, and used body flicker to catch her off guard. The boy threw his leg back and then swung it forward to kick the downed Mao in the face, her nose instantly breaking and gushing blood down to her chin.

"If this whole ninja thing doesn't work out for you, you could play soccer, Lapis," Lazuli complimented as she pushed her brother out of the way, and took her turn to kick Mao in the face as well. "We'd probably make a good team."

19 lifted her head up by her hair and drew a kunai, placing it at her throat and threatened to drag it across with no remorse.

Mao had blood flowing from her nose and had lost a few teeth, and now tears were streaming from her eyes after being caught by the trio of Oto genin, "Please, let me go! I'll give you my scroll!" She pleaded and the twins looked at each and laughed.

"Ha! I've got like five scrolls already, fuck your scroll," Lapis let her know, pulling out multiple heaven and earth scrolls, dropping them to the ground in his flashy display. "Tell us where Son Goku is."

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ With Chi-Chi)

Chi-Chi dashed away from the scene of another enemy camp, which she laced with ninja wire and enough explosives to draw her enemies out once it sounded off. She was bouncing through the trees with a smile on her face. Her job was to simply cause havoc among the forest and she was enjoying herself. When it became nightfall, and other teams were ready to settle down; they would have no where to go, and would be ripe for the picking.

She was so pleased with herself; she was barely paying attention to her surroundings as she sped through the forest. The girl narrowly missed an already placed ninja wire and jumped down into the clearing to avoid being tripped up. She let out a sigh of relief when she peeped out what she just missed and smiled when she stood up straight.

The weak whimpering of a ninken made her turn her head instantly, and she laid eyes on a bloody Inuzuka propped up against the tree. Not too far from Kiba was Shino, who was equally battered. In good conscience, Chi-Chi couldn't leave them there to die, so she went to check their bodies over and felt better when she saw that they still had a pulse. They were, however, unconscious and wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

The dog at her feet nudged her at the ankle and urged her to follow, as it took off running not too far from where Shino and Kiba's bodies were. She hesitantly followed, drawing a kunai just in case she was being led into a trap, and was frozen in place once she saw what the pup was leading her to. Chi-Chi had to look away for a moment, crouching down to pet Akamaru with a frown, "This is terrible."

When she built up the courage to finally look at the scene again, her eyes fell upon Hinata Hyuga. She recognized the bashful girl from the first part of the exam, but seeing her like this made her stomach turn. The girl's skin was pale and wrinkled beyond belief, and worst of all; her eyes were hollowed out and missing. There were dried up streams of blood coming from her eyes, and someone had pried them out with their fingers from what she could see.

Chi-Chi slowly approached Hinata's body and kneeled down, with Akamaru whimpering around her while she checked Hinata's pulse. It was extremely weak, but it was present, and the Kumogakure native almost felt emotional. She knew that it was the 'Forest of _Death_ ' for crying out loud, but what had been done to Hinata Hyuga was down right cruel. She picked her up and carried her back to her team, shutting her eye lids so people wouldn't be forced to stare into her body every time they passed by.

When she returned to the clearing with Akamaru, she felt a chill run down her spine when she locked eyes with the older Hyuga cousin, "I-"

Neji pointed an accusing finger to Chi-Chi with a furrowed brow, "You did this!"

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ With Team Deidara)

"Nothing here belongs to you, fucker!" Karin stuck her middle finger up while yelling her favorite obscenity and both Pepper and N looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Let's get rid of this snake once and for all."

"What exactly belongs to you, Orochimaru?" N questioned, using the stalemate between Pepper and the snake Sannin to his advantage. He could tell that the boy was extremely exhausted in his short bout with the man, so he would build some time for him to rest. From what he could see, Orochimaru liked to run his mouth anyway.

N was right in his assumption and the legendary ninja parted his lips to speak, "Karin, she is mine." He looked at the girl with a twisted smile, his tongue slowly slithering out his mouth. He grinned in his explanation, "Karin and I have a lot of history, you see, dating back since she was a child. Now the Akatsuki has their hands on her," The man complained with a child-like tone. "I'm like a kid, I see someone else playing with my toy, so I want it back."

Pepper looked at Karin with a hint of disgust, "I knew your red-headed ass came with baggage," He stood up and prepared himself for the inevitable battle with Orochimaru. "But she still belongs to the Akatsuki, so I'm afraid I have to fight you to protect her."

N looked between Orochimaru and Pepper, "Wait, we're really going to fight this guy?"

"Yeah," Pepper sighed.

"Damn right you are!" She knocked N on the head, "I'm very important to Nagato-sama, he'll have your head if I went missing."

"She's not lying," Pepper insisted as he drew two kunai and looked toward N, "Cover me, and protect Karin at all costs." He said in lowered voice. The boy forced himself to choke out the next thing, "She's important."

Orochimaru giggled, tilting his head back, opening his mouth wide, and a snake extended from his throat. All three genin looked disturbed, and the snake opened its mouth to reveal the handle of a blade. The man pulled it out the snake's mouth and spun it around in his grip. He grinned as he listened to Pepper talk, "Yes, your leader seems to be quite the family man now. Taking Karin under his wing, oh, Nagato-sama how great of him." The man leapt down from the tree and landed on the forest floor. His killing intent started to rise to crazy levels, and it made Karin cripple in fear.

Pepper and N weren't affected by it, but still took note of how immense it was. The freckle-faced boy crossed his kunai, pouring his explosive chakra into them and both he and Orochimaru dashed at each other. He knew the man's end goal was to sweep Karin away, but he had to keep him at bay no matter what. They clashed blades in the center of the clearing, and small explosions went off every time the blades met.

There was no power struggle or stale mate anymore, and Pepper was actually knocking Orochimaru away. Each time their blades crossed, there was a small explosion happening and it would disgruntle Orochimaru, messing up his footing with every strike. Pepper tried to overpower the older shinobi and put some distance between them with his explosion enhanced slashes.

Orochimaru recognized the threat and broke away from close-range combat and suddenly slipped underground when the boy tried to take another swipe at him. Pepper cursed under his breath and took to the trees, "Get Karin off of the ground!" He yelled out at N, who was a quick thinker just like Pepper, and swept Karin off of the ground. They were both leaping into the trees, trying to gain a higher ground.

"There's only so much we can do against this guy, Pepper," N yelled back at the freckle-face boy. He looked at Karin, who was still latched onto him with a blush on her face, "Are you serious right now?" He asked in disbelief while looking at the flustered girl and set her down on the branch they were standing on. He turned back to Pepper and frowned, "I say we run while we're ahead."

"He'll chase us all five days, and I'd rather deal with this right now," Pepper deducted and took a deep breath.

"You sound as delusional as Dei-" N lost his words, and his footing as the ground underneath began to shake. Karin had completely lost her shit, and he looked over to see her hanging from the branch and about to fall back onto the forest floor. As the boy walked across the branch carefully, he tried to grab Karin and pull her back onto the branch, but he lost his grip. The tree fell over, and everything around them was sinking into the ground.

Pepper launched himself from his tree and grabbed Karin out of the air, sticking to the still sinking tree with his chakra. He climbed back up to where N stood and had to stop himself from constantly cursing, "Maybe you're right." He gestured away from the sinking forest around them and jumped from the collapsing tree, onto one that was still attached to its roots. They were going to continue, but a giant snake climbed up the tree quickly and sprung out at them.

The former Kumo-nin shot his hand out when he saw it and sent his explosive chakra down its throat, and blew it to bits before it could bite any of them. Before he could let out a sigh of relief, there were snakes attacking from every direction, varying in size. Pepper did his best to keep them away from himself and Karin, but as threw his hand out, one of the snakes bit down hard on his knuckles and he yelled out.

From the mud pit that they were still slowly sinking into snakes were shooting out by the hundreds like missiles. It became too much for the trio to avoid, and they were soon getting bit all over by the reptilian nuisances. Just when they thought things couldn't get worse, a snake that was ten times the size came slithering out of the mud and opened its maw. The three of the Akatsuki genin couldn't break away quick enough, and were swallowed along with the hundreds of snakes.

They were trapped inside the throat of a giant snake, and its mouth was filled with more snakes. It was like swimming through a sea of snakes, and it was a feeling Karin hoped she would never experience again. They were still lashing out and trying to bite them even more, but Pepper grabbed one by the throat, loading it a lot of explosive chakra, and threw it down the length of the giant snake.

N and Karin continued to fight the snakes away as they slid down the snake's throat nastily. It was N's second time today being in the process of getting digested, and it was disgusting to say the least. His ears perked up when he heard the explosive snake Pepper sent into the giant reptile's stomach, and it exploded quite viciously. It could no longer hold anything else, and the trio was thrown up back on the ground, covered in bodily fluid.

"This is the worst day ever," Karin complained and crawled away from the remains of the snakes, still covered in smaller, dead ones that were killed by them while they were trapped in the bigger one's throat.

She soon found herself digging her hands through the ground, and she turned to see Orochimaru's sticking out the mud, his arms extended to inhuman lengths. The girl swung her head back around to look at Pepper and N who were still disgruntled by being vomited back up by the large snake. She threw her hands behind her head and then thrust them forward, shooting out two chains that flew out from her wrists and tied around the base of a still rooted tree, "Will you fuckers help me for once!"

Pepper had been thrown off by all the things happening to him, but he still caught wind of that comment and frowned, "Are you fucking serious?" He asked the girl, as he turned his head to see Orochimaru trying to pull her into the mud, and take her god knows where; to do only god knows what. He nudged N and got the boy up off of the ground, "Shoot that slimy bastard, now!" N reacted faster than Pepper had anticipated, shooting off an explosive blast that made the boy recoil when he fired it off.

The blast connected with Orochimaru's stomach and shot the man out of the mud. There was a gaping hole in his stomach, leaking blood freely, as he tumbled across the ground, and eventually hit a tree with a thud. The moment he was down, Karin pulled herself up to the tree with her chains and took a deep breath, "We need to go, right now!" She looked over her shoulder, and saw Orochimaru shaking off his damage like nothing had happened, despite the intense stomach wound, "RIGHT NOW!"

"We tried to do that, but he pulled us right back into this shit," Pepper told the girl, and came to a stand. He knew getting rid of Orochimaru was no easy task, but he would have to find a way to do so, so they could walk away from this with no loose ends. "We're handling this now, so we don't have to later. Didn't your parents teach you about that?"

There was an awkward silence.

"We're both orphans," N said with a straight face.

"I am too, but still," Pepper shook his head and disregarded the comment for the time being. "Look, you have to face your problems head on, or else they'll linger on forever, and I can't have this fucker hovering over my head this whole time."

"I'm running out of chakra, so we can't drag this on for too much longer," N alerted Pepper and the boy nodded. He shifted uncomfortably as he looked at the multiple bite marks covering his body, "He mixed in some poisonous snakes in that barrage too, _we_ don't have much longer either."

Pepper understood the circumstances, and looked at Karin, who was just as beaten up as he and N were. He took a deep breath and watched as Orochimaru was getting closer, his slow walk a taunt to the group of genin, "Ok, here's the plan."

. . .


	31. Insomnia

**INSOMNIA ~ 31**

Three genin slowly stalked into the area, horror written all over their faces. Shikamaru looked throughout the clearing, counting the bodies, and seeing where their affiliation lied. He looked back at Choji and Ino with a frown on his face, "Six teams, eighteen people. That's a good portion of the entrants that aren't making it out," He grimaced at the thought of dying in the forest. "I wonder what caused all this."

Choji placed his hand over his stomach and his face started to get blue, "I think I'm going to throw up," He had never seen that many dead bodies before, and it was making him wildly uncomfortable. It almost made him not want to eat, but- it wasn't that bad.

"Stop being a baby, Choji," Ino said as she led the group into the area. There was bead of sweat rolling down her forehead as she did so, because she was kind of worried what she might find.

Shikamaru sighed, mumbling something about how 'troublesome' Ino was acting, but still followed after her, because he was curious too. He veered off and started examining bodies, while Choji was over his shoulder staring at the bodies nervously, "This is too much for me." Shikamaru said as he going through the dead guy's equipment and restocking his own.

"I thought being a ninja was about being discreet, hiding in the shadows," Choji mused aloud as he looked at the trail of bodies. "It's almost like someone wants to be found."

"Some people like the challenge," Shikamaru told his fat friend and sighed as he stood up. He found enough to weapons, hunting tools, and foreign currency to last them for a while, so now he wanted the exam to be over. They still hadn't got the scroll they needed, "Whoever did this wants to be found."

"That's uncomfortable.." Choji mumbled as he now rubbed at his stomach, his hunger getting the best of him. "We should go catch some fish, I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Choji," Shikamaru was glad that he suggested the easiest method of getting food. They tried catching a wild boar earlier and it didn't end well. "You're catching it though, fishing sounds too troublesome."

"G-G-Guys!"

The two boys sprung up and ran in the direction they heard Ino's voice, ready to fight, but they skidded to a halt when they saw the blonde haired girl with wide eyes, "Holy.." Shikamaru looked Ino over, she was perfectly fine, but what she held in her grasp made his heart race. "This can't be real."

"WE HIT THE FUCKING LOTTERY," Ino cheered, in her arms was three Heaven scrolls, and two Earth scrolls. She threw a scroll to Choji and Shikamaru, dancing as she did so. "Now we can go straight to the tower!"

Shikamaru examined the scroll over, it was just like the one he had. There was no doubt it was real, "That might be the best plan you've ever come up with." He stored the extra scroll on his person and folded his arms over each other. "I don't want to look this gift horse in the mouth for too long, let's leave before something happens."

Choji agreed and they were beginning to leave the area, "I wonder if they have food in that big tower." The boy wondered as they three left, but there was a whisper making his ear ring. He turned around and scratched his head in confusion, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Come on fat ass, you're just hungry," Ino poked at Choji's ego, and the boy's head swiveled back around quicker than she anticipated.

"I'M NOT FAT, I'M PLEASANTLY PLUMP," Choji pointed a shaking finger at Ino and she laughed.

" _Help me_ ," the call of distress rang in all three of their ears now. " _I'm not hostile._ "

Shikamaru asked hastily, "Where are you?"

" _In the clearing._ "

The trio looked at each other, "This could be a trap." Ino reasoned with Shikamaru, but the boy looked too intrigued to be stopped. He walked off in the direction they found the scrolls in. The rest of the team had no choice but to follow.

In the clearing, Mao was sitting up right against a tree, but her whole body was battered. She coughed up a bit of blood and continued breathing raggedly, "Please, help me." The girl pleaded once more, "Any medicine you have, please, I'll do anything."

Ino was normally a composed kunoichi, but seeing Mao in that condition pulled on her heart strings. She obviously wasn't the enemy, "I have something that can help." She admitted, but it didn't come without a cost. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone about it."

Shikamaru looked at her with a confused expression, "What are you hinting at?"

The blonde's face got surprisingly serious, "That goes for you two, this is a secret." She reached into her equipment pouch and pulled out a small bag that was normally used to hold buttons for knitting. It was filled with green powder, "Allegedly, it can cure anything."

The Nara felt like he had seen that green powder before, "Don't people get high using that shit?" During some of their missions, they were stopping small time drug operations for villages who wanted to keep their community safe, and they had come across the green powder before. "Ino what were you keeping that for?"

"Look, I don't need it anymore," Ino avoided the question, "It's called Senzu Powder, it should heal our new friend right up."

"Why are we helping her, guys?" Choji asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"She let me cheat off of her exam during the written test," Ino admitted, "She's good people."

"Thank you so much," Mao was truly grateful for Ino's actions.

Choji tilted his head, "Really? I cheated off of that Goku guy."

. . .

(Forest Of Death ~ With Kin)

Kin's flames were burning even hotter now. He had lost track of Son Goku, and his own team wasn't helping him look for the boy. He had at least tracked the boy back to the river, but no one was to be found. His flaming head was constantly twitching around trying to pinpoint the boy's location.

He cursed under his breath, on the brink of giving up and just returning to his unhelpful teammates, but when he turned around; something smacked him in the back. His armor of fire flickered out of life for a moment, and he instantly turned around when he almost dropped to the ground. The fire ignited back to the life, and his angry eyes were looking around once again.

The Iwa-genin looked at the ground and saw a fish out of water flopping. While he was staring at the fish in confusion, another fish shot out of the water and hit him directly in the face. His fiery armor subsided once more and plummeted onto the ground.

He hit the ground with a thud, and rubbed at his soaking wet face in discomfort. Even the slightest amount of water would disrupt his cloak, and now he was at a disadvantage. The boy shot up and instantly charged into the river, "I'm going to fucking kill you!" The moment he jumped into the raging river, he was tackled by none other than Son Goku.

The boy had been holding his breath under water, waiting for Kin to arrive, so he was more than ready to strike. He had wrapped around the taller boy's waist, but quickly moved his hand to Kin's throat, as he forcefully swam them to the bottom of the river.

The choking boy clutched at Goku's wrist, but he was far stronger than he appeared. He was running out of time before he ingested too much water, and moved his hand from Goku's wrist. Kin whipped out a kunai with one swift movement and stabbed it into Goku's forearm.

Goku let go of Kin and screamed out, which was silent since they were underwater, and the older boy started to swim back to the surface, while Goku's blood was starting to saturate that part of the river.

It was during times like these where Goku became a quick thinker. He used the time Kin was using to regain his breath to gather his chakra. 'How can I end this?' The boy asked himself over and over, and finally something clicked in his brain.

During his brief time training with Shidō, he learned about the basics of chakra, and nature transformation. The robotic learning system explained to him that chakra was a catalyst, and it made the earth react in many different ways. The same way he was able to spark a fire within his body, he figured he should be able to do something equally awesome to the outside world.

On the surface, Kin was breathing heavily, but finally came to a stand. He looked down at the water, "Either he drowned or he's a fucking fis-" As he stared the water, it started to bubble, and the boy instantly jumped into the air. He was expecting Goku to shoot balls of fire out, or at least shoot out of the water himself, but he was sorely mistaken.

The water shot out in an upward spiral, spinning like a vortex, and started to take shape. It exploded at the top and water splashed in the Iwa-genin's face. Kin looked up to see a large tidal wave rising faster than he could move, and riding the wave was Goku with a childish grin on his face. The saiyan boy threw the kunai Kin had used to stab him right back at him and it connected with his side. The follow up to that was the wave Goku had created swallowing him back into the merciless river.

Goku skid across the surface of the water, using his chakra to stick to it, and turned around quickly in anticipation of another attack, "Haha, that was awesome!" He couldn't help but scream out when he found a way to slow down the fire-type user. He tensed up when he saw Kin weakly climbing out the water, and ran forward to kick him in the face so he could finally knock him unconscious.

The boy's body went flying and sunk back into the river once more. Goku took a deep breath, the adrenaline beginning to wear off, and the stab wound in his forearm was starting to register with his brain, "I've gotta get that scroll ba-"

He turned his head to see Kin's teammates rushing to the river, and had to narrowly avoid being stabbed all over by precisely thrown shuriken. Goku watched as Airi broke off to retrieve Kin's body, and he was being charged at head on by Isamu who had a sword made of pure gold drawn. His eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the flashy weapon, which had diamonds encrusted across the length of the blade.

Isamu furrowed his brow at Goku when he saw the boy staring at his weapon instead the person wielding it, but regardless the boy was falling for his feint. All of his enemies were always drawn in by the lure of his weapon, and what it may be capable of, but never watched his other movements. Soon they would learn.

The saiyan was quick to back away, but his footing was compromised when he felt a blade lodge deep into his back, and nearly touched his spine. He fell over, as blood was now flowing freely from his back wound and started to sink to the bottom of the river. His eyes were wide after realizing what had happened, and mentally cursed himself out for being so easily distracted.

From his peripheral, he did see a clone of Isamu standing with more weapons in his hand. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the expensive looking katana though, and that's where his problem was. Isamu's golden sword was used to distract him, while the clone delivered the finishing blow when he wasn't looking.

As his injured body slowly dropped to the bottom of the river, things began going black for the boy, and he was going to lose oxygen as long as he was trapped at the bottom of a raging waterway.

"I couldn't let you kill the village's Jinchūriki, sorry kid." Isamu said to the sinking Goku.

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ With Team Deidara)

N and Pepper moved defensively in front of Karin. The blonde haired boy who had just been adopted into the Akatsuki 'bounty hunter' program felt odd guarding Karin with his life on the line. He had his motives within Akatsuki, and he needed to be alive to accomplish his goals, so facing off with one of the strongest shinobi to ever come out of Konoha wasn't in his plans. He balled up his hands into a fist and slightly grinded his teeth together.

He just wanted this to be over with.

Pepper felt the same way as N, but he understood Karin's importance to the organization, and more importantly how her skills could be used against them in the wrong hands. The boy sighed as he adjusted his position, because he currently looking 'the wrong hands' right in the face. If he let Karin back into the hands of Orochimaru, his leader would punish him in more ways than one.

The still air made the trio of genin uncomfortable, while Orochimaru grinned with his sword in his grasp. He looked them over with one good glance and saw everything that was ailing them. All three of them were exhausted, running low on chakra, and his snake's poison was starting to drive to the point of blacking out. This battle was all but over in his mind.

The tension in the air was at an all time high, and the wily snake was the first person to engage them. The tired genin couldn't match his speed, and he managed to get between their defensive positions. The first person Orochimaru targeted was N, and the boy was quick to raise his arm to guard given the time from the slash. The older shinobi's sword drew blood from N's forearm and smiled when the boy didn't back down.

Pain was going to take a moment to register for N, so he would act while he had the chance, and raised his free hand. Orochimaru had seen what the boy was capable of before, so lest he wanted his chest to be blown off by a 13 year old genin; he jumped away.

The battle had gone from zero-to-sixty, and N fired off a small explosive wave in the shape of cone that exploded in the air right before it could hit Orochimaru. The man was about to part his lips and mock the child, but while his eyes were locked on N, Pepper layered his foot with explosive chakra, and shot himself forward at high speeds.

He tried to place his chakra covered hand over Orochimaru's face, but the Sannin started to rear his head back to avoid it completely. At that time, Pepper was far faster than Orochimaru, and his chakra still exploded at near point blank range from his head. The boy was sent flying away, N catching him weakly, while Orochimaru screamed out in pain as his body tumbled across the forest floor, and back into his pit of mud he had created.

After the brief bout, Pepper and N were breathing heavier than they normally would have. The poison was starting shut down their systems and only had a few more moments left before they passed out. N let go of Pepper and cracked his knuckles, "Okay, let's get this thing over with."

Pepper nodded in agreement, "Yeah."

"Hurry up you bastards, I'm running on fumes here!" Karin complained as the two boys gathered their last amounts of chakra.

The two bombers looked back at her with furrowed brows, "Shut up."

The freckle-faced boy crouched down and placed his palms against the forest floor, while N formed a triangle with his index fingers and thumbs. They both took accurate aim, and their thick, explosive chakra began to saturate the area. Pepper's was traveling through the ground and N shot his right into the mud pit.

When the two forces met, the explosion rocked the whole forest, and the trio of genin had to block their eyes from bits of snake, mud, and debris. Karin watched in awe, wanting to let a victorious smirk creep on her face, but she knew it took way more to kill Orochimaru, and that wasn't their end goal.

The red-head girl felt like the next twenty seconds happened in slow motion. Her retelling of the story would definitely be in slow motion. All three of them had agreed on a common goal to get Orochimaru as far away as possible, and _run_ the fuck away. There would be no prolonged battle, where they grinded it out and came out on top, holding Orochimaru's head. Nothing like that. It was to run for the kami forsaken lives.

All three of them imagined their run to be more graceful, but in reality it was three scared genin high-tailing it out of the area with their tail tucked between their legs. They had just gone head-to-head with Orochimaru and got to live to tell the story. It was a good day.

"Kami, I hate you Karin."

Semi-good day.

. . .

(Forest Of Death ~ With Chi-Chi)

Chi-Chi ran as far as away from Neji as humanly possible. The boy was fuming with anger, and her jumbled explanation of how she found them did nothing for him. The only reason he had to believe that she wasn't the enemy was Akamaru, and she thanked kami every second for the dog that saved from having to fight three of Konoha's strongest genin at once.

After seeing the gruesome image of Hinata with bloody tears streaming from her empty eye holes, she just wanted to reunite with her team. She was jumping through the forest, making her way back to the rendezvous point they had all agreed on. Her part of their plan was completed, and it was starting to get dark in the forest.

All the possible camp spots were laced with traps, and it wouldn't be long before genin teams tried to settle down for the night. Their sweep for scrolls should be smooth, and they would be headed to the tower before the sun came back up.

On the path to their meeting point, Chi-Chi dropped down from the branches and landed on the forest floor. She saw foot prints in the dirt and her eyes followed them up to the scene. Her heart nearly stopped when she caught wind of all the dead bodies that was leading her to the rendezvous. She massaged her temple slowly, "What the hell happened here?"

The girl stopped gawking and moved past yet another horrific scene. The Forest of Death truly lived up to its name. She leapt out of the clearing and continued to move to her destination.

As it got darker, the forest started to become more raucous, and she could hear the deadly nocturnal animals waking up. She felt the trees she chose to travel on literally shaking, "Sheesh." Her skin was literally crawling, so she dropped out of the higher grounds of the forest, and landed in another clearing that wasn't far from she had just passed.

She pushed through the bushes, which revealed the raging river. There was bridge connecting the side of forest she was on to the other, and she walked up to the edge of the patch of land. She jumped over it and slid down to the coast of the river.

The girl was instantly wrapped in a bear hug that she expected to be Goku, but looked at her teammate Mao with tears streaming from her eyes. Chi-Chi furrowed her brow, "Mao, what happened to you?"

"I got attacked," She sheepishly backed away from Chi-Chi and wiped the tears of joy away from her eyes. Mao regained her composure and took a deep breath, folding her arms over each other. "There were three shinobi from 'Otogakure' looking for Goku."

"You got attacked alone? But you look fine," Chi-Chi leaned in toward the girl's face and looked her over a few times. She knew Mao wasn't a fighter, but other than a few minor cuts; she looked more refreshed than exhausted. Chi-Chi tilted her head in confusion, "What did they want with Goku?"

"I don't know," Mao held her index finger with a 'but-wait-there's-more' expression written on her face. She reached into her equipment pouch and pulled out a Heaven scroll, and then the Earth scroll that they were searching for. "We need to find Goku-kun and head straight to the tower before morning comes."

Chi-Chi groaned, "That boy should be standing right here!"

"I can't sense him anywhere, he must be in trouble, Chi-Chi," Mao worried.

"Well, only one of us can go search for him, because that idiot could stumble back here at any moment," Chi-Chi reasoned and sighed as she tried to figure out a plan. "You're a good sensor, but if you get attacked we're in trouble. I can't go alone, because I wouldn't know where to start looking."

"If you don't mind, Chi-Chi, I have a plan," Mao said nervously, because she was never officially put in charge. She'd hate for Chi-Chi to assume she thought she was smarter than her, even if she technically was. The bashful girl knew how females thought, "With my Toki Jun no Jutsu and a carefully crafted seal, I can lead you to any possible locations for our friend Son Goku."

"How long will it take you to make that seal?"

"A few hours, but it will be done before the morning," Mao said as she started to pull out papers and ink to create said seal for Chi-Chi to use. "We should get to work now."

"This better work, Mao."

. . .

(Forest of Death ~ With Raditz and Vegeta)

Vegeta grinded his teeth together, as he and Raditz floated in the air in the midst of a stalemate between them and Gaara. They made light work of his siblings, and now only had to deal with Gaara who seemed impossible to kill off. Normally the Prince wouldn't engage, but after his strength was in question; he would see this through to the very end.

On the ground, Gaara had encased himself in a ball of sand. He was at a disadvantage the entire time. Vegeta and Raditz covered each other extremely well, and were faster than his 'absolute' defense. It was the first time in his life he had been overpowered, and it wasn't an enjoyable feeling. After being attacked from every angle, he shut himself off from the duo.

Raditz folded his arms over each other and stared idly at the ball of condensed sand, "What is the boy doing?" He looked at Vegeta with a raised brow, and the boy was just as crestfallen as he was. They didn't have time to waste, yet they were being forced to watch Gaara's display of 'defense.'

"I don't know what the boy is doing," Vegeta looked up to the sky and watched as the sun began to disappear into the night. His goal was to make Son Goku a smear on the ground, _not_ Gaara. He slowly descended from the air and touched the forest floor, starting to walk forward to the red-haired boy's 'absolute defense' he had made a mess of not too long ago, "But I plan on ending it right now."

He placed his hand out not too far from the ball and tilted his head. A long spike started to jut out from the front, but only far enough to prick a miniscule amount of blood from his palm. It sensed killing intent? Vegeta tilted his head in amusement, because he was retaining his normally monstrous intent for the sake of his human teammate Mai, who was hiding in the bushes not too far from where he was.

Said girl hiding in bushes adjusted her position to see the fight better. One of the perks that came with being an Iwagakure shinobi, was all of the cutting edge technology the Tsuchikage let her test out, since she wasn't as 'naturally gifted' as Vegeta and Raditz. She managed to get her hands on a scouter, and the girl was focused on the condensed ball of sand Vegeta was so fearlessly standing in front of.

Mai clicked a button and started to get a reading. Before he was killed, Dr. Brief imitated the technology, and she could get readings in an identifiable language; instead of the alien characters that popped up on the lens. Her jaw dropped to the ground, "Vegeta, his power level is rising!" The moment she shot her mouth off to Vegeta, the whole area shook like an earthquake hit the forest.

The source of the earthquake level blast was the Prince of All Saiyans. His hand was still steaming after firing off an irritation-fueled ki blast that put a gaping hole through Gaara's defense. The boy's body was thrown across the forest floor, and the large cloud of smoke that was kicked up obscured his vision from seeing what remained of the Sunagakure genin.

He turned to look at Raditz with a confident smile, "What did I tell yo-"

" **Don't speak too soon, child!** "

Raditz and Vegeta were about to engage in cocky saiyan banter like they always did, but it was cut short by a demonic voice booming through out the area. Two irritated glances turned to face whatever dared cut the self proclaimed 'strongest living beings on earth' off from their conversation. They were not impressed or amused by what was going on.

The thick cloud of dust had yet to settle, but the two saiyans saw a silhouette slowly getting bigger as it approached. There was a hint of Gaara in the energy that was flooding the area, but a new sentient being had entered the fray, and it was slowly starting to match their otherworldly intensity, " **Tonight, this forest will not sleep, for Ore-sama has awaken!** "

From the cloud, emerged what used to be Gaara. His appearance had drastically changed, sand piled on top of his body to the point that he looked more like the tanuki sealed inside him than himself. There were black curse markings all over its face, body, and long tail. Its yellow eyes were locked on Vegeta and a wild smile was all over its facial features.

"Don't think your extreme makeover means anything to me, fool," Vegeta didn't back down as the partially transformed Gaara slowly walked towards him. Whatever the beast raised its killing intent to, the saiyans matched it. The boy rolled his neck casually as his enemy prepared to attack him, "Now I can give you the proper burial you deserve."

" **You will learn not to disrespect me, child!** "

. . .

 **Today's vibes brought to you by Mac Miller: Faces. Excellent album.**

 **Holler at me. ~**


	32. Never Trust A Snake

**Never Trust A Snake ~ 32**

Raditz floated in the air while Vegeta was standing on the ground with an amused grin on his face. The 'Prince of All Saiyans' looked up to his partner and chuckled, "It seems like we might be getting a new pet, Raditz," The boy joked as he started casually stretching out, while the possessed form of Gaara let out a monstrous roar. "Why don't you go entertain the tanuki while I warm up?"

"My pleasure," Raditz cracked his knuckles as he dropped down to the ground next to Vegeta. He shot off of his left foot so blindingly fast that an after image was left in his wake. The saiyan reappeared directly in front of Gaara, kneeing the boy in the gut so hard that the ground shook underneath them, but there was no reaction from the red-head.

Gaara's possessed face had a wide grin plastered on it, " **Do you not understand boy!? I bolster the ultimate defense!** " Raditz looked down and saw that his knee was being blocked by a layer of sand. More of the sand began to kick up around him and Raditz chose to back away. Gaara threw his hand out toward where Raditz landed and a tendril of sand shot out at trying to stab him through the chest.

The boy had learned from his first bout that the enemy of the 'ultimate defense' was untraceable speed. He decided to kick it up a notch, running circles around Gaara, and his multiple blurry after images were the only thing that Gaara could see from Raditz. The tendrils were still shooting out at him, but he was simply too fast to be hit by something so direct.

The sand continued to chase after the teenage boy, and Raditz took notice. He grit his teeth, finally taking his chance to attack from behind. He knew the tendrils of sand would cease once he was back in Gaara's personal space. There was a supercharged ball of ki in his grasp as he stabbed it through Gaara's back, which made the boy's innards explode out of his body. Sand flew everywhere and Raditz had a victorious grin on his face.

"You made this too easy for me boy," Raditz boasted as he now tried to pull his arm out, but it was stuck. The hole that he had just created in Gaara's back quickly refilled with sand, and the possessed boy turned his head to look over his shoulder with a bloodthirsty smile. "There's no way!" He looked down as sand began to creep up the length of his arm and onto his body.

" **Underestimating me was your biggest mistake fool!** "

Raditz's arm was so thoroughly locked into the pit of Gaara's chest that the only was out of this was cutting his arm off, and he didn't intend on losing a limb. He looked past Gaara's monstrous figure and caught wind of Vegeta still stretching with an entertained expression on his face. He moved to form a fist with his free hand, but his fingers were being held still by Gaara's sand.

He was trapped.

The saiyan had a frustrated expression on his face now, "DON'T JUST STAND THERE VEGETA, DO SOMETHING!"

Vegeta currently had his arm behind his head, "Don't rush me."

. . .

(Forest Of Death ~ With Anko)

The purple haired woman was rushing through the forest at high speeds. A team of Chuunin had alerted the proctor not too long ago of a deceased group of Kusagakure genin with their faces ripped off. She only knew one person capable of that, and Anko knew when a snake was slithering behind her back.

She had to find the man before it got completely dark out, or else he'd escape by the time morning came. Anko landed firmly on the branch once she felt an ominous feeling saturating the area. The killing intent was thick, and even as a trained killer herself it made the woman somewhat wary. Her skin was crawling as she slowly turned her head to see what was behind her.

Nothing.

When she turned back to face forward, she instantly drew a kunai and put it at the man's neck who had appeared out of nowhere, "I knew I would find you out here!"

Orochimaru grabbed Anko by the wrist and frowned deeply. Standing before her was an ugly sight to see, dead skin falling off of his face, and the red meat of his chest exposed after it being blown off completely by the combined forces of Pepper and N, "That's because I'm not hiding, child," He tightened his grip on her wrist and furrowed his brow. "I know you want to talk to me, but now is not the time."

Anko was breathing heavily, finally being able to confront the man that had put her through so much. She grinded her teeth together angrily, ready to lash out, but the man's hold on her put her in a vulnerable position. From her sleeve, snakes slowly started slithering out, "Fuck that, why are you here, Orochimaru!?"

He broke away from the hold he had on her and backpedaled across the branch. Anko shot forward and tried striking him with a precise string of punches and kicks, but Orochimaru was far too wily to be captured that way. The man jumped off of the branch and gained higher ground, using his fingers to activate a simple seal.

Before she could give chase to Orochimaru, she instantly buckled over in pain, as the seal on her neck was activated. The man looked down on her and folded his arms over each other, "I don't have time for these petty games, Anko, I am not your enemy." He hated to admit it but, "Our interests are aligned for the moment."

Anko grabbed at her neck and tried to hold back screams of agony, "What the hell do you mean?"

"Have you been paying attention to who you've allowed in this exam?" Orochimaru questioned the downed girl while shaking his head in disappointment. "Fourteen percent of the exam entrants were extraterrestrials, and there hundreds more of them filtering into your wretched village by the day."

Anko was starting to overcome the pain, and come to a stand once more. She looked up at Orochimaru, who was almost unrecognizable after he had his face blown off by a pair of teenagers, "What the hell does that even mean?"

"For the last few decades, there have been reports of beings coming from outer space and occupying our land. Some aren't hostile, but there are a select few that have power comparable to tailed beasts easily, and they're planning on destroying Konoha to use as their own," Orochimaru explained the predicament to his former student. "By way of your own foolishness, you've allowed hordes of them into the village to corner you."

"That's our problem to handle then, Orochimaru!"

"I cannot trust you or the Hokage, so I had to take things into my own hands. I have an eye watching over village now, if anyone is going to destroy Konoha it will be me," Orochimaru was slowly starting to sink into the branch of the tree, "Carry on the exam as scheduled, I'll keep you updated if something else happens. Watch your back, Anko."

"But, Oroc-" The man disappeared before she could say anything else, biting her lip once he vanished. For Orochimaru of all people to be concerned about Konoha's wellbeing meant something was going horribly wrong in the ninja world.

She had to report this to the Hokage.

. . .

(The Saiyans vs. Gaara)

Raditz reared his head back, screaming in pain as the sand holding him stabbed his arm and nearly snapped it in two. There was even more pain spreading across his body once the minute amounts of sand covering the other parts of his body mimicked the act that happened on his arm. Precise tendrils of sand tried to stab at his vitals, "VEGETA!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes as he finally stopped stretching, still not dashing into the battle to aid like Raditz wanted him to. He was still observing, "Perhaps if you weren't such a weakling, you wouldn't need my help." He mocked as he continued watching Raditz struggle to break free.

The boy cried out in pain after his arm was forcefully broken, and he was now being stabbed all over. Sand continued to layer over his body, and the normally composed saiyan was starting to mentally break down at the thought of actually dying in battle. Dying in battle by the hands of a human, regardless of what was sealed inside him made it even worse in his mind.

Sand started to crawl up his torso and grab at his throat, and the vision in his eyes was starting to get hazy. His eyes moved past Gaara choking the life out of him once again, trying to focus on Vegeta who was simply standing watching with a blank face. If he lived through this, he would never forgive him.

"Vegeta, if Raditz dies we'll get eliminated!" Mai screamed out shakily from the bushes, the leaves rustling as she instantly moved to a different position. "Tsuchikage-sama will tear us apart if we get disqualified."

Vegeta growled, "You're lucky the girl said something." The boy with the strong widow's peak saw enough to know what to do. He crouched down and instantly shot forth with amazing speed. As he moved, he formed a simple cross seal with his fingers, and four copies of himself popped into existence to join the battle.

They were all moving so fast that Gaara's defense couldn't keep up. He wasn't going for a kill shot, just a distraction. After seeing Raditz fail at trying to use brute force against the possessed genin, he mentally cursed at himself because he would have to stoop down to a shinobi's level to beat him. What Gaara now had in power, he lacked in pure skill, and Vegeta had both.

The confident Iwa-genin pulled out a kunai, as he maneuvered through the constantly shifting sand defense, and powered his weapon with chakra. He raised his arm into the sky and then slashed downward, ignoring the loud scream of pain that came from Raditz's mouth. Vegeta kicked the boy in the chest and sent him flying away as all of the sand that covered him flew off of his body.

"It's just you and me now, boy," Vegeta said as he tossed the kunai to the side. He had made himself vulnerable in his effort to keep Raditz alive, and a giant hand made of sand tried to smash him like an insect. He was quick to react though, and with a single hand he held up the massive appendage from crushing him, "I'm nothing like that peon you just fought, come at me with your best."

" **Ha! If you think you're going to last any longer than your partner, you're a damn imbecile!** " The possessed boy let out a loud laugh as he tried to press down on Vegeta with his enlarged hand, but Vegeta violently threw him off his balance, and followed it up with a blast of ki that opened another large hole in his chest.

Gaara tumbled across the ground, while Vegeta stayed put. He took a deep breath; his clones had long since been dispelled, and needed to keep this battle at a range. Unless he wanted to end up like Raditz, he was going to completely avoid any kind of hand-to-hand combat as long as he possibly could.

"YOU BASTARD, YOU CUT OFF MY ARM!"

The short boy looked over his shoulder, saying nothing as he watched Raditz continue to yell in anger mixed with immense pain after finally registering that his hand had been cut off courtesy of Vegeta. He didn't seem to care, returning his glance to Gaara, who was getting back on his feet.

"I WILL KILL YOU, VEGETA, YOU CUT OFF MY _ARM_!"

"Stop whining, you'll get another one," Vegeta said nonchalantly as tried to form another plan before Gaara got on the offensive. He cursed under his breath when the boy dashed forward with shocking speed, and parried a punch from his oversized hands with his forearm.

Vegeta retreated from close quarters combat and ascended to the air. Gaara's sand quickly followed him, and he had to move through multiple hands made of sand trying to swat him down like a fruit-fly. He decided to use a tactic from Raditz's playbook, and started flying around in a circle, turning into a blur.

Gaara's eyes were moving back and forth quickly trying to keep up with Vegeta's form, but it was all a blur. The boy tried to swat him out of the air, but he was simply too fast. Once again at a disadvantage, Gaara was frustrated to no end and let out a powerful roar that sent wind flying out from all directions of his body.

The saiyan boy was thrown off of his course and had to protect himself by blocking his face from the strong wind Gaara kicked up. He held his position in the air, "Stop toying with me human, and show me the rest of that sad excuse you call a power up!" Vegeta held his hand out and it started to glow, while the possessed form of Gaara began to growl.

" **YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE ME AT FULL POWER!** "

"I'm not going to ask twice," Vegeta furrowed his brow as he brought up his other hand and started to fire off a barrage of ki-blasts that didn't stop for a whole minute. His display of power kicked up a large cloud of dust that hampered with his vision, but an excited grin crossed his face when he did begin feeling a spike in Gaara's power level.

" **YOU'RE GOING TO REGET THIS!** "

Vegeta wasn't at all impressed by the energy that was starting to pour into the area. He rolled his eyes, now bringing his index and middle finger up in front of his face. His other hand was placed over his forearm as he gathered his energy, "Time to end this, I had fun watching you bully my friend Raditz though."

The demonic aura only continued to get stronger, and Vegeta wasn't seeing things his teammate Mai's angle. She was currently behind the ever growing form of Gaara, "Vegeta, stop you're going to get us all killed!"

"Shut up girl, this is my fight!" With no regard for any life around him, Vegeta slashed his hand through the air, as explosive energy began to bubble in the area where he sensed Gaara.

From Mai's point of view, at first it had gone dark because of the large figure that was blocking her view, and then suddenly a shining light began illuminating the entire forest.

"Say goodbye you piece of shit!"

. . .

(Forest of With ~ With Chi-Chi and Mao)

Mao tucked her hair behind her ear and continued meticulously working on the seal she had come up with not too long ago. She had to be precise with her strokes, or the seal would backfire and ultimately malfunction when she poured her chakra into it. It was a tedious task, sweating dripping down the side of her face as she continued her process.

Chi-Chi had her hands on her hips, tapping impatiently as she watched the girl work. Mao explained it would take a while before she started, but she was starting to get antsy when the forest started to shake as the night went on. Goku could be in serious trouble, and she didn't want to risk losing one of her friends, "Mao…"

"I'm working as fast as I can," Mao was slowly moving her hand as she continued drawing the proper arrays for the seal to work how she intended.

"What is this thing going to do anyway?" Chi-Chi asked, crouching down to take a look at the girl's work while she continued to move her hand steadily with the brush.

"It'll establish a direct link between you and I," Mao explained, pausing briefly to look at the sheet of paper she was drawing on. A small nod to herself, she went back to work, "As long as my Toki Jun is active, and you're within my range I'll be able hone in your location. We'll also be able to send data back and forth to each other."

"Wow, Mao, that's amazing," Chi-Chi complimented.

Mao grinned as she appeared to be putting the finishing touches on the seal. As she was on her last stroke, her hand was thrown off once the whole area started shaking, and she was thrown into Chi-Chi's grasp.

Debris went flying over the bridge and some of the water was thrown off its course and splashed in their face. The earthquake like force didn't stop a few minutes, and the two girls were shaking in fear as an ominous aura started to suffocate the forest.

"Okay, Mao, change of plans."

. . .

(Vegeta vs. Shukaku)

Mai's jaw went slack as she blown away by the huge explosion created by Vegeta. There were branches and huge slabs from the ground flying everywhere that she was narrowly avoiding. To make matters worse, once of the largest beings she had ever seen had been knocked off of its footing by Vegeta's attack, and was about to fall over and crush her as well as a huge section of the forest upon impact.

She looked up to the sky and prayed, 'Please, kami, I never wanted to be a ninja!' The girl crossed her fingers and closed her eyes. 'Don't let me go out like this,' The girl said to herself, and after hearing Shukaku drop to the ground; she thought it was all over. Mai felt weightless, and like she was floating in the air. She was too scared to open her eyes, not yet ready to see the afterlife.

"Open your eyes you stupid girl," Vegeta's frustrated voice made her do as instructed. She looked down and saw the whole forest from where they were levitating, the huge body of Shukaku stirring as it started to get up off of the ground. Her heart was racing, as she clutched onto the saiyan, who was currently holding her bridal style. "If you don't want to die, I suggest you listen."

Mai looked around in the sky, her face now confused, "Where's Raditz?"

Her question was answered fast, "YOU INCOMPENTENT MONKEY!" Raditz came flying at full speed, trying to tackle Vegeta out of the air, but Vegeta swiftly moved to the side, and started to float away from the angered boy. He was infuriated, "HOW DARE YOU CUT OFF MY ARM!?"

Vegeta stared blankly at Raditz before it slowly turned into a smirk, as the boy kept lashing out at him for cutting off his arm. The prince ducked under one of his punches, and then planted a firm foot into the side of the boy's head that made him stop his assault. Vegeta followed it up by rearing his head back and smashing it into Raditz's already injured chest and sent him back toward the ground.

"Without my help you surely would have died," Vegeta said smoothly after knocking away his partner with Mai still in his grasp. There was a bit of blood dripping from his forehead that he completely ignored. His voice boomed down to Raditz, who had stopped himself from plummeting right into the belly of Shukaku, "Your fear of death is starting to become a thorn in my side, and it's been a liability for years."

Raditz opened his mouth to respond, but Vegeta deftly cut him off, "Even the human girl isn't as pitiful as you." He hoisted Mai over his shoulder and started descending down to Raditz's level, so the boy could lock eyes with him, and feel how serious he was. "As long as you're scared to die, you'll never be able to achieve new heights. If you continue to be a burden, the moment this exam is over I will kill you myself." The malicious energy that exuded from Vegeta made it hard for Raditz to move, let alone say anything.

Vegeta was deathly serious, and it sent an uncomfortable chill up his spine.

"Now, take the girl, I have business to attend to," Vegeta said as he threw Mai haphazardly through the air, and Raditz was forced to catch her with his only hand by her hair. She yelped in pain by being held like a rag-doll, "You're too weak to fight this battle, keep her alive until I'm done."

"What makes you so confident you'll win?" Raditz asked incredulously.

"Because I'm not _you_ ," Vegeta said as he was suddenly surrounded by a white aura. His power level took a considerable hike upward and he let himself freefall from the air, readjusting his position so he was facing the ground as he shooting from the sky like a meteor, and his intention was to destroy the tailed beast that still hadn't recovered from his Bakuhatsuha.

" **Show yourself boy!** " Shukaku shouted as it used its sand to push itself back up to a stand. It couldn't sense the boy's energy until the last second, as Vegeta ripped through its entire body, entering from the head, and exiting through his ass. It tried to use the sand that composed it to strike him down while he was inside of him, but the boy was gone just as quickly as he had entered.

The hole created by Vegeta's act was filled with sand, and what once was Gaara scanned over their battle field, seeing nothing. Shukaku let out a fierce growl that shook all of the spectators that were crowding around the area, at a safe distance, so they could watch Vegeta take on one of the legendary tailed beasts by himself, " **Hiding will do nothing for you boy, do you really think the almighty Shukaku can't find a mere child!?** "

Vegeta's voice started to boom throughout the area, but he himself was no where in sight, "I'm not hiding from you, you wretched beast." The ground underneath Shukaku began to rumble, and it averted its eyes to the forest floor. Slabs of the forest floor burst into the sky, as an army of Vegeta clones slowly ascended from the underground. The beast's eyes moved quick, counting fifty clones of Vegeta. "I must say, these shinobi arts are starting to become useful. What's more reliable than one Prince?"

All the clones spoke in unison, "A whole platoon of them."

" **It doesn't matter how many of you there are, I'll destroy them,** " Shukaku waved it's arm, sending a gust of wind in the direction of all the Vegeta's and the unfortunate spectators. Much to the beast's chagrin, none of them dispelled, instead being thrown into everything surrounding the area. It furrowed its brow after seeing them all moving to get back up, " **No mere clone is that durable!** " It opened its mouth as it prepared multiple compressed blasts of wind.

One of the clones spoke up, "We're not clones split by chakra, fool, and we're created by the natural energy absorbed by the original. Your flimsy ass winds won't be e-" This particular clone wasn't quick enough to avoid being smashed by a compressed blast of wind. The rest of the clones that got a relay of the specific memory in their mind instantly took to the air to avoid the same fate of their duplicate friend. They all covered each other's asses perfectly, maneuvering through the air, and all them throwing shuriken trying to distract the large tailed beast they were doing battle with.

It waved its giant arms to block the shuriken, and the metal weapons slowly sunk into its sandy skin. It lowered its limb and instantly started shooting bullets made of sand into the clones. Fighting a tailed beast was no simple task, and some of them couldn't take the brute force behind the sand bullets that were landing in their vitals; disappearing from existence with a poof of smoke, " **Face it boy, I'm your worst nightmare!** "

"I'd like to think I was yours," There were only fifteen Vegeta's remaining. The brief bout between the Prince of All Saiyans and Shukaku was beginning to take a toll on the forest. Trees were uprooted from the ground, debris everywhere, and a few casualties among the groups of genin that were too close while watching the fight. The clones snickered as they held their hands to the sky, chakra starting to slowly rotate in the palm of their hands. "I've had fun, I really have, but it's time we stop playing games."

Shukaku laughed at the cocky genin and swatted at least four more clones of Vegeta down to the ground, dispelling them upon impact. The others scattered about the air, now holding a disc of sharp, rotating chakra above their heads. The beast looked up and cracked a smile, shooting out even more bullets of sand at the remaining clones.

They all threw the discs of chakra, Shukaku moving to guard, but ultimately lost one of his arms in the process, while the other discs were completely futile. It let out bellowing roar that shook all of the clones to their core, and it swung it's huge arm, dispelling the remainder of the duplicates. It was beginning to get irritated to end, when once again; the field was empty, and there was no Vegeta. Even if it was slowly reforming; having his arm torn off was utterly disrespectful, especially by an impudent child, " **STOP PLAYING WITH ME BOY, SHOW YOURSELF!** "

The real Vegeta was rising out of the ground with a smirk on his face, "Hm, how disappointing. I thought my clones would be able to finish you off." He rolled his neck, letting his arms fall to the side after using his 'Hiding Like A Mole' technique to stay underground and come up with a plan. He instantly shifted from his position, dashing across the ground when bullets of sand and wind were trying to turn him into a splat on the land.

Shukaku laughed out loud, when Vegeta fell for his feint, and he smashed his hand on top of the boy when he got into the spot he predicted him to move to. Expecting to see a smear of blood on the ground, Shukaku's face twisted in confusion when he felt resistance under his monstrous hand. He tried harder to press down, but he still couldn't kill the inhumanly strong Vegeta, " **YOU FOOL, I'VE GOT YOU RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU!** "

"Do you really?" Vegeta questioned the giant beast made of sand. Since he was out of sight from everyone, no one could see the amount struggle on his face. Holding up the hand of the tailed beast was no laughing matter, and it was a battle he was starting to lose. The boy was sweating furiously as he tried to push up and out of Shukaku's palm, but the monster kept applying force. Vegeta let out a scream of pain, as he forced his muscles in his arm to tear trying to keep up the beast's hand.

He tried to ascend off of the ground, "FUCK!" Vegeta looked down at his feet and saw that they were encased in sand. The entire time he was struggling for supremacy with one of the strongest beings to ever walk the Earth, sand was falling from the beast's palm, and wrapping around his body. Vegeta was so caught up with trying to free himself he didn't notice, and now there was hell to pay.

The entire forest floor collapsed in on itself, as it was washed over by a wave of sand that came from Shukaku. Vegeta had to spit sand out of his mouth as he was suddenly knocked over, being dragged forward by the ankles, and looked up to see Shukaku with a victorious grin on his face. His whole body was wrapped in sand, restricting his movements, and his heart was beating sporadically, since he was definitely looking death in the face at this moment.

" **You were more exciting than your friend, I must admit, boy, but this is the end of you,** " Shukaku said to Vegeta as it opened its mouth wide and started generating a dark chakra that made the boy uncomfortable. The evil energy that flooded the area as it generated the most menacing attack he ever laid his eyes on sent a chill up his spine. What made matters worse, was the attack was focused on nothing other than him. He was at Shukaku's mercy.

He wouldn't accept loss though, and his eyes slowly started to illuminate with energy in his last ditch effort. Perhaps if he could disrupt the attack, it would implode on itself, and set him free of the restrictive sand? It wouldn't hurt to try, but before he could act on his impulse; everything _stopped_.

Vegeta watched in awe as the dark energy from the impending bijudama slowly dissipated, and the large tailed beast placed its hands on the sides of its head. He was still trapped in the sand, but at least he wouldn't be blown to smithereens by the biju's most powerful attack.

" **This is my fight, Shukaku!** "

. . .

(Forest of Death – Outside of Vegeta vs. Shukaku)

The fight between the alien child and the Jinchuriki had drawn a surprising crowd of spectators. They all set aside their respective battles for the scrolls to gawk at one of the highest powered fights to ever bless their genin eyes. Seeing a mere child fly through the air and combat one of the legendary tailed beasts and not dying within the first few seconds was amazing. Even more so after seeing Vegeta visibly troubling the beast, cutting off his arm, and forcing him to draw his trump card against him.

"Just how strong is that boy?" A masked shinobi asked in awe, looking back at his leader with worry written all over his features, even if no one could see it; they could feet it. His voice was shaking with fear, not only was a tailed beast on the loose within the Forest of Death, but there was child who seemed almost as powerful as the biju holding his own.

Of all the bystanders, for the literal leader of the village to be in the forest to watch this fight was an even crazier spectacle to see. He was well hidden in his position, of course, but after the whole section was torn apart by Shukaku and Vegeta; it was hard to stay low key. The old man let a smile stretch on his seasoned face, "Even I don't know myself, but he is quite the formidable shinobi."

He had been watching the fight since the beginning. After his presence was requested by the likes of Anko Mitarashi, he decided to meet the woman personally in her domain. The original plan was to pass through the forest unnoticed, but it was hard to slip by two forces of nature going against each other within his village.

"Hokage-sama, we can't just stand by and watch," Another ANBU guarding the man spoke up. "If the Ichibi defeats the boy and breaks into the village, we'll have a serious problem."

Hiruzen firmly shook his head, "Even if the boy loses, it will take the beast quite some time to escape the forest. I have sentries prepared." He grinned at the worried ANBU, "Have some faith in the youth, they tend to surprise us every once and while." That was the end of the conversation, leaving the ANBU there standing in silence, as the Hokage continued to watch the exchange between Vegeta and Shukaku.

The man's attention was broken before Shukaku started forming the bijudama, when he heard rumblings among the other spectators about the 'Hokage,' and he was forced to make his leave. He looked at his two ANBU guards, and all three of them nodded.

With a mere shushin, all three of them were gone without a trace.

. . .

(Forest of Death)

The whole forest was in an uproar, and Team Asuma wasted no time moving throughout the night as they trekked toward the center of Training Ground 44 to find the tower that was mentioned at the beginning of the test. With the remainder of the genin choosing to watch the fight between Vegeta and Shukaku, the trio of genin decided to use it to their advantage, and run to the finish line while everyone else chose to be gawkers.

Anybody with eyes could see the monstrous figure that was Shukaku, and the Konoha genin's natural instinct was to run away, which happened to be their specialty. Shikamaru looked over his shoulder and saw that Choji was distracted as they ran through the forest, "Choji, eyes up front! Come on, you can't get distracted that easily."

"What if our friends are in trouble, Shikamaru?" Choji said with a frown, as he turned his attention to Shikamaru, who was currently leading the team, while reading off of a rough map he created the moment they entered the forest. "We can't just let them die."

"That's the whole point of this exam, Choji, to test your abilities in mission-like circumstances," Shikamaru explained to him, as well as Ino who looked equally worried. He frowned, "I understand you're scared, but if this were war; we can't worry about our comrades the entire time. They have a mission and so do we. If we let out emotions rule our judgment, what good are we?"

"Shikamaru's right, Choji," Ino hated to admit it, but the lazy boy had a point. The scrolls were supposed to represent valuable information, and if they risked the info even though they had a clear cut path to their destination to go back and saved fellow Konoha teams they'd be stupid. They weren't directly in this exam as one big team, so they had to operate almost as if they didn't exist. "They might be our comrades outside of this, but right now, everyone is the enemy."

Choji sighed, "Fine, I guess you guys are right." The fat Konoha genin rubbed his stomach and frowned, "But I'm starting to get hungry, I hope there's food at the tower."

"This is all so troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled to himself as they ran at high speeds. "I can't wait until this damn test is over."

. . .

(Gaara vs. Vegeta)

From the head of Shukaku, Gaara rose, looking like a zombie while he was attached to the ethereal being made of chakra. When Vegeta drove him past the point of partial transformation, Shukaku had control for a portion of the fight, but after a long internal battle with beast; he was starting to regain control of the situation. He was still crazy as all hell, but it was definitely a start.

Vegeta quietly thanked the boy's surprisingly strong will power, as he carved himself out of the sand encasing his body with beams from his eyes. He could have done the same for Raditz, but he needed to teach the boy a lesson earlier. Vegeta rolled out of the sand, and backpedaled away from the monstrous figure towering over him, "Welcome back, child."

" **I will finish you for myself this time!** " Gaara spoke through Shukaku, his voice distorted by the demonic chakra that was still fighting to control him. He was in an unstable state, but he was good enough to fight. " **I needed to see your blood shed with my own eyes.** "

"I can't promise that pleasure, boy," Vegeta accepted the fact that he couldn't flat out kill Shukaku after fighting him. The muscles in his arm were done for, and it would take more time than he had to recover from his injuries. He took a deep breath, finally seeing why the beast was sealed inside of a host, because they were damn hard to get rid of. "These words have been exchanged a few times during this battle, but it truly is over now."

Gaara raised his arms, as a javelin made of sand was formed and he began shooting them at the boy on the ground. He repeatedly spammed the attacked, and planned on doing so until Vegeta was dead. While the boy was injured, he was still extremely fast on his feet and avoided the javelins in a zigzag pattern.

He rolled across the forest floor and took a deep breath, before shooting out a large blast of fire form his mouth without forming a hand seal. It had no structure to it, and it smashed in Shukaku's face, blinding his vision for a moment. Vegeta instantly retreated to trees that remained in the forest, and shook his head as viewers of the fight were seen fleeing upon him running into the space they were watching from.

The Prince of All Saiyans took this moment of reprieve to catch his breath and regain his bearings. His ability to use ninjutsu was shot to hell for the moment, since he couldn't even stand to raise his arms, lest the intense pain from his torn muscle ligaments eat away at him. The most he could do was take the stinging pain for a moment to form a cross seal, and send a few clones back into the fight to distract the tailed beast while he recovered.

He let his arms limply fall back down to his sides and bit his lip trying to ease the pain of his injuries. The boy wouldn't dare be trying to do anything with multiple hand seals, so he had to rely on strictly taijutsu to see him out of this situation. Even with his inhuman reserves, he was low on chakra, as well as ki, and it wouldn't be long before he would be exhausted.

Memories from one of his clones were filtering back to him, so he knew it was time for him to move.

Gaara/Shukaku on the other hand was having a blast playing 'Whack-a-Mole' with Vegeta's clones. He smashed his large fist on the head of a clone, forcing it to burst, and another was destroyed by a shockingly fast bullet that destroyed the lower half of its body upon impact. With one last swing of its large arm, a gust of wind sent the remainder of the clones flying into the thick of the forest, to be dispelled once and for all, " **I'm tired of these games!** "

"So am I," Vegeta said in a muffled tone, revealing himself to be running up the length of Shukaku with a kunai in his mouth. Once he was in range, he threw the kunai at Gaara, but the red-head simply caught it and tossed it out of his way. Vegeta had to weave through multiple tendrils of sand, propelling himself out of harm's way with a front flip, and landed right behind Gaara.

Vegeta swung his foot around and tried to smash it into Gaara's side, but he blocked with his forearm. The saiyan broke away and now had to avoid even more sand shooting from underneath him. The boy's stamina was beginning to wear down, and he was caught around the ankle by the sand once more.

He was launched into the air, as Gaara lifted his hands, and Shukaku mimicked the boy's movements. Vegeta was smashed between Shukaku's palms and immediately felt one of his ribs break and threaten to stab something vital. He coughed up a bit of blood, and was instantly dropped out of the sky.

Before he could hit the ground, Shukaku lifted its tail and used it to punch Vegeta across the forest floor and into a row of trees that were instant uprooted from the ground by the impact. Vegeta yelped out in pain, never being so thoroughly beaten in his life. Even after all the damage he was taking though, he still had the slimmest amount of energy to stand up, but ended up falling down to his knee.

" **Face it, this is the end of you!** "

"Are you sure you don't want my help now, Vegeta?" Raditz was floating not too far from where Vegeta landed with a slight smirk on his features. "It seems like you could use it," He said mockingly, and got a menacing glare from Vegeta.

Mai, who was still being held by the hair frowned at them both, "You two really are the worst teammates I've ever had."

"No, this is exactly what I wanted you idiot, stay out of this!" Vegeta yelled as he smiled like a mad-man. There was white energy beginning to radiate off of his body, as the feeling in his arms was slowly starting to come back. He balled up his fist as his power returned even greater than before it left. Shukaku had the upper hand not too long ago, and if would have taken one more hit; it would have been over, but he managed to survive its onslaught.

"Why the hell would he want to get torn apart?" Mai asked with a confused look on her face.

"Zenkai (Full Release)," An ability he had never been able to achieve during his thirteen years of life. He watched Vegeta's power start to come back to him, and he knew that the boy was going to be even stronger than he was before. "Whenever a saiyan experiences fatal injuries or a near death situation, should they survive it; they come back even stronger than before." With him being so scared of death, he could never exploit the ability. "Once Vegeta realized he wasn't strong enough to flat out over power the tailed beast, he decided to abuse Zenkai, so he could get an increase in power, and turn the tides of the fight."

"That's ridiculous."

Vegeta rolled his neck, as he shot off of the ground and swiftly avoided all of the tailed beast's attempts to knock him out of the air. He landed on the head of Shukaku, skidding across the top of the demon to a halt and calmly started power walking toward Gaara's body. Tendrils of sand tried shooting at him, but he batted them away like they were mere nuisances, and grabbed Gaara by the throat.

"Thank you, without you I would never gotten stronger," Vegeta ripped Gaara out of the body of Shukaku and started choking the life out of him. He grinned, the demon underneath him beginning fade away to return to its host, and he himself was now floating in the air. Normally he would have ended the boy's life right there, but he chose to drop the boy out of the sky and let him hope for the best. He had wasted too much time fighting him, and he was somewhat relieved for it all to be over, since he knew biju couldn't be killed; he didn't want to deal with the resurfacing beast for quite some time.

Everyone else who was still watching the fight were utterly shocked, and there was a stir in the forest after the boy descended to ground with a victorious grin on his face.

They couldn't believe what they were seeing, "Kami, that boy just defeated a tailed beast all by himself!"

Damn right he did.

. . .

 **Vegeta just got his first gym badge, I'm damn proud of him. I hope that fight was enjoyable to read, because I was entertained writing it.** **There aren't any extraordinary music vibes that brought this chapter on, but enjoy it regardless.**

 **Stay wAvy kids. ~**


	33. Where's Son Goku?

**Where's Son Goku? ~ 33**

The morning sun was beginning to filter into the deadly forest, as three genin trekked ever closer to the tower located in the center of the training grounds. From where they were, they could see the tower in walking distance, and a smile crossed Shikamaru's otherwise stoic face. He turned to look at Ino, "We can finally relax until the next portion of the exam." He said, as all three of the genin dropped down from the branch and started walking toward the tower.

There was no one camped outside the tower plotting to take scrolls, since everyone else in the forest had moved to part that Vegeta and Gaara were fighting in. Their curiosity made it easy for Team Asuma to run straight to the finish line while everyone else was distracted. If things would have went normally in the forest, despite how good at hiding they were as a team; they would have been set back because someone would have likely overpowered them for their scroll. Thank kami for Vegeta's freakish strength.

Shikamaru had to admit, he was almost sucked into watching the fight, but his team had an objective at the end of the day.

"Sheesh, I'm so hungry after all that running," Choji rubbed at his belly and furrowed his brow as they approached the doors of the tower.

Each genin team, should they make it this far had an assigned entrance once they finished the exam. It was the same number of the gate they entered from, and Ino wasn't hesitant to push open the set of double doors that led inside the tower. She walked in with her hands on her hips, expecting more, but Shikamaru grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to him and Choji.

"Don't be stupid, Ino," Shikamaru furrowed his brow, looking around cautiously, but it truly was an empty room. "This could have been a trap that was apart of the test."

Ino's eyes traced along the room, only seeing hallways on a higher level that led somewhere else, and then plastered on the wall was a message. She pointed at the message, "This isn't a trap, Shikamaru, read that."

Shikamaru read it quietly, while Choji read it out loud, "Without heaven… There's word missing, I'm confused," He looked back at his teammates and they had mixed reactions on their face. Shikamaru nodded in understanding, while Ino was still trying to piece things together.

Shikamaru pulled out all the scrolls they collected and tossed the excess ones to his partners, "I think it wants us to open our scrolls." After finding the portion of the forest full of dead bodies, they found five more scrolls to go along with the one they already had. After giving one of their extra Earth scrolls to Mao, which left them with three heaven scrolls and two earth scrolls. "I'll open mine first."

Ino and Choji watched in anticipation of what would transpire next, as Shikamaru hastily opened both of the scrolls expecting something bad to happen once he did so. There was no initial reaction, which made Team Asuma's shoulders slump collectively, but when smoke starting flying out of the scrolls; Shikamaru dropped it to the ground and jumped away.

Ino and Choji did the same, the blonde hair girl pulling out a kunai in case something was about to go horribly wrong.

When the smoke cleared, all three genin were on high alert, so when the two of the laziest Chuunin Konoha had to offer appeared out of the smoke; they all sweat dropped. They couldn't believe they thought a threat was coming mere moments ago, but when Kotetsu and Izumo were seen standing there scratching their heads with a grin they all visibly slumped.

Kotetsu grinned at the disappointed genin, "Why the long faces, fresh meat?" He asked with a raised brow, as he stepped forward to give the trio thumbs up. "You guys managed to pass in a day."

"Not quite a record, but still damn fast," Izumo complimented Team Asuma with a small smile. He held the open scroll he was summoned from and held it up for them to see, "You all will move along to the third test. You guys have four days to rest, and depending on how many people finish you'll probably be back to fighting the moment the rest of the kids pass."

Ino and Choji threw their extra scrolls to the duo, "I don't think a lot of people are going to make it out the forest alive," Ino said with a wary tone and folded her arms over each other. A shiver went up her spine while she recalled what she saw in the forest, "We found four teams dead within the first few hours, and then with the monster attacking at night; there had to be even more casualties. There can't be that many survivors."

Kotetsu tilted his head in confusion, "I heard about the monster attacking the forest last night, but you said you found a lot of dead bodies?" The whole team nodded in response, and he stroked his chin. Death was common in this part of the exam, but a cluster of dead bodies was rare to say the least.

"We found a girl still breathing, she said it was one kid doing all this, who knows how much more he got done since last night, and there's still four whole days," Shikamaru shook his head thinking about it. He started counting on his hands, "Twenty six teams entered, only half of them can truly pass, and with the extra scrolls we had two more teams are automatically disqualified. At this rate, only a handful will advance."

"Damn kid, you're smart," was the only thing Kotetsu deduced from Shikamaru's explanation and he silently nodded in agreement. "That'll make things interesting for sure."

"Yeah, the exams would go straight to the final round if only a few teams make it," Izumo informed the whole room.

"That sounds troublesome…" Shikamaru said under his breath.

"You better hope for that option, you'll get a whole month to rest," Kotetsu recalled with a smile. He didn't get any better as a shinobi during that time, but damn was he well rested.

Tired of the conversation, Choji finally spoke up, "Is there something to eat in this joint?"

. . .

(Forest Of Death)

Vegeta leaned against the base of the tree, staring into blank space, while his teammate Mai was wrapping bandages around Raditz's newly created nub. The Prince lowered his head, because despite how much he didn't want to admit it; he was exhausted. Fighting a Jinchuriki and walking away from the battle was no laughing matter, and it was starting to take a toll on his body.

He didn't need any dire medical attention, having already run damage control. His broken bones had been tended to, and by way of the highly illegal senzu powder purchased before he entered the forest; he would be up and running in no time. His partner on the other hand didn't have the same medical fortune bestowed upon him. Vegeta planned on keeping all of his secrets to himself.

Raditz was just as battered as Vegeta, broken bones, and a lot of internal bleeding. Was it mentioned that his own teammate cut off his hand to 'protect him'? He hadn't been able to move since the fighting cease, the only thing keeping his battered body going was the adrenaline of dodging deadly attacks from a tailed beast. Now it felt like his body was shutting down for the worst, "Hurry up and make this pain go away girl!"

Mai rolled her eyes as she finished wrapping the saiyan boy in bandages. She stood up and looked down on the 'almighty saiyan' who had his ass handed to him by a prepubescent boy, albeit possessed, but her point still remained, and shook her head. He was so stubborn, "As long as you don't move, you should be fine by the time the test is over." She turned to look at Vegeta, who was quietly staring at the morning sun as he himself recovered from his injuries. He had more reason to complain than Raditz, "How are you doing big guy?"

"I'm the strongest being to walk this planet, I think I'm going to be fine," Vegeta boasted as he pushed himself to a stand. His torn muscles and now brittle bones were starting to recover, but a stinging pain that nearly made him buckle over had to be held back in order for him to save face. He walked up to Mai, looking past her to stare at the disappointment that he called a partner in Raditz, "We can't waste anymore time."

"You're right," Mai saw how much struggle went into Vegeta getting off of the ground and grinned lightly. She reached into the boy's equipment pouch, showing just how weakened his defense truly was, and pulled out both scrolls they needed to pass. She put them in her own equipment storage and placed her hands on her hips, "You're weak as hell right now, but I think we're strong enough to pave our way to the tower, and we have that whole fear factor working for us now since you beat the Ichibi."

"Since were you declared the leader?" Vegeta asked with a snide tone and pushed her out of the way. He didn't give a damn about the exam anymore. He came to shed blood, "This exam means nothing to me, I'm a high ranking officer in that damn village in everything but the title. I'll be promoted regardless; right now we're going after Kakarot. He'll pay for running away from me in battle."

Mai's blue eye twitched, "I don't even know who Kakarot is, and Raditz is in no condition to move rig-" Her skin crawled when Vegeta stomped his foot hard enough to make a imprint in the forest floor. His oppressive energy nearly made her crumble, but he eased up once he had the girl's attention.

"Enough of that, you listen to me," He grabbed Mai by the arm and started dragging her across the ground toward Raditz. He tossed her right into the boy, "You watch over this sad excuse for a saiyan until I return. When I come back, we'll advance to that damned tower you care so much about." Vegeta jumped into the sky and flew off before Mai could interject and left her speechless.

"His ego will be his own undoing," Raditz said prophetically, before letting his head rest against the base of the tree.

"You're not really one to talk right now," Mai rolled her eyes and had no choice but to wait for Vegeta to come back.

. . .

After nearly being swallowed into the raging river, Chi-Chi had to make the executive decision of moving both her and Mao into the forest to find Goku. He still hadn't returned to the rendezvous point by the time the morning came, and at the point there was no more time to wait for him; they had to find him themselves.

The duo bounced from tree-to-tree in the search of their missing teammate. Mao's jutsu was constantly scanning their part of the forest for any traces of Goku's chakra, and she wasn't far from falling over from exhausting her energy, "If you don't mind me saying, Chi-Chi, we've been searching for hours," She said as she felt reserves getting close to empty. "I think we need to take some time to rest." Between Shukaku's rampage during the night, and the searching for Goku through the morning; she hadn't gotten any sleep since they had arrived in Konoha.

There were bags under Chi-Chi's eyes but she shook her head, "We can rest once we find Goku and get to the tower, we have the scrolls," She couldn't fight back the yawn that escaped her lips and the girl quietly sighed to herself. "Now we just need to find the boy," She said in reference to Goku.

The whole forest was still stirring back to life after a good portion of it had been leveled by Vegeta's fight with Shukaku, and a lot of teams still needed ample time to recover. She and Mao were some of the few people to not go and directly watch the fight up close and get turned into a casualty.

Chi-Chi balled her up fist tight, as she actually took a minute to gain her bearings, "Where the hell is Goku?"

. . .

Another team of genin stared at up the encrypted message on the wall of the room. The three of them looked confused, before the leader of the squad ripped the scrolls out of his teammates hands. The hot head also known as Kin groaned, "Fuck that, let's just open these bad boys up." He examined the scrolls once more and then smiled. "That Goku kid was useful for thing at least, we didn't have to scramble for five days looking for a fucking scroll."

"Shut up and open it already," Airi complained.

"Before I do that," Kin held up his index finger, which made his teammates furrow their brows in frustration. "You two are complete pieces of shit for not helping me beat that kid's ass."

"Open the scroll," Isamu spoke up with his own frustration written on his face. "You had the scroll already, that was your own fault."

Kin grinded his teeth, holding back a screaming match for another time. They would have plenty of time since they were about to pass this part of the test, "Okay, let's get this over with." Kin handed his Earth scroll back to Isamu and slowly started to open his. "We'll open it on three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

The boy unraveled the scroll he got from Goku, and everyone in the room's eyes widened when smoke started filtering out both scrolls. He dropped it to the ground, but the moment it hit the floor, an explosion rocked the whole room, and he had taken a brunt of it; his body smashing against the wall like a bug after being hit at point blank range. Kin's head snapped up quickly to take in what just happened.

He knew opening the scrolls had some kind of consequence, but they damn sure weren't supposed to explode in his face. "What the fuck!?" He yelled out to his teammates, but got no response. The entire room was continuing to fill with smoke and he couldn't make out Airi or Isamu, but he did see a cloaked figure slowly walking through the cloud of smoke that continued to erupt from the scroll.

"A fake scroll," The masked man laughed to himself as he inched closer to the downed Kin. He kneeled down to the boy's face, and the Iwa genin started to make out the distinct features of the Konoha ANBU's mask. He couldn't move a single muscle while a chill ate away at his spine, "Sorry kid, you fail."

Everything went black once he uttered those words, and the exam was over to the team of Iwa genin.

All thanks to Goku's fake scroll.

. . .

(Forest of Death)

Two of the able bodied genin stood guard over their make-shift campsite, while the other three were still sound asleep after being exhausted the first day of the exam. The boy with the pupil-less white eyes couldn't break his stare at the downed body of his cousin, Hinata. While there wasn't any true physical damage to her frame, she had bandages wrapped around where her eyes used to be. The thought was beginning to break Neji's mind, since someone managed to get away with the sacred eyes of the Hyuga clan and he had yet to put a face to the person capable of doing so.

He had accepted his position within his family a long time ago, attributing it to destiny, or fate, but there was a sliver still in his mind that didn't believe that to be true. Of the whole generation of main and branch house kids, he was the smartest, strongest, and overall most talented in his family. He had the most potential, but due to a matter of birth; he was placed in the branch house of the Hyuga clan, and the girl deemed to be the future head of the clan was lying on the ground in the weakest state he had ever seen her in.

The very purpose of the branch house was to protect the main family, and due to her own lack of skill; he would be chewed out for the actions that happened in the forest. There was no seal protecting the Byakugan placed on the clan heir who couldn't defend herself when it mattered the most, yet he had a seal placed on him that could turn his brain to mush in mere seconds, and he was obviously better equipped to deal with problems than his younger cousin. The whole situation was tearing his brain apart, how would anyone be able to explain that Hinata Hyuga was robbed of her vision in the Forest of Death?

There were no rules stating that a Hyuga's eyes were off limits. A shinobi had to do whatever it was that was needed to survive, and destroying Hinata's only advantage in battle was actually fair game. The Hokage could do nothing about it, and at that point it would be personal vendettas between the Hyuga clan itself and whoever was responsible for snatching her very eyes out her sockets. While he never felt too strongly about the branch house protecting the main house, he was beginning to feel a need to avenge his cousin's plight.

Ten-Ten looked over her shoulder and frowned when she saw how lost Neji looked at the moment. He was generally quiet on missions, but this was a new thing for her to see the most cool and collected person nearly at his breaking point. She bit her lip from saying anything, since he needed time to sort things out for himself, but they had been sitting in silence for the whole night, and now the better part of the morning. The girl was starting to get antsy.

Luckily Kiba started to shift uncomfortably, and eventually sat up once he realized he wasn't fighting anymore. Akamaru was sleeping soundly at his feet and he scratched the side of his face, after taking the ass whooping of a lifetime; he didn't necessarily know how to open conversation. He looked over at Hinata, and then his eyes slowly went up to the icy glare of Neji, "W-What happened?"

" _Who did this?_ " Neji had been waiting to ask that question for hours now, and once Kiba opened his lips he wouldn't be holding back any longer. When he found them, there was Kumo shinobi present, and the only reason she wasn't deemed hostile was because of Akamaru hovering around her like the lost-pup he was at the moment. The long-haired genin stood up, never averting his eyes from Kiba, " _Tell me who did this, right now._ "

"It was that weird ass team from Otogakure," Kiba started to slightly growl as he remembered the three genin they tried to ambush. They were in too deep once they realized how strong they were, "It's like no matter what I hit them with.. they just kept coming. The only other person I've seen with that much energy is that Naruto kid." His inadvertent killing intent managed to wake up his ninken, and he balled up his fist. He wanted a rematch so desperately.

Shino was the next to return to his senses, pushing up his sunglasses as he woke up. He caught wind of the conversation as his senses returned to him, "They were very formidable opponents," He added to their exchange, as he fully sat up and looked between Hinata, Kiba, and finally Neji. "I tried to drain my opponent of their chakra the moment the fight began, but it was futile effort. Their reserves ran too deep."

Neji nodded, remembering the odd team of Otogakure shinobi that were very offsetting during the first part of the exam. He turned his back on Team Kurenai and walked out of the hollowed out tree they were resting inside of. The Hyuga walked past his teammates and they both looked on with confused expressions, since the boy was just about to kick it to high gear, until Shino called out to him.

Shino came out of the hollowed out tree, pulling out a scroll from within his coat and placing it in Neji's grasp. There was a moment of silence between the two and he nodded toward the pale-eyed boy, "Due to Hinata's condition, we cannot continue." That was too much dead weight for an already weakened squad to carry. The time it would take for her to get acclimated to being blind wasn't enough for them to pass the test and her be useful. On top of that, almost all of her chakra had been drained, and it was honestly a surprise that she was still breathing. "I know what you intend to do, and I would like to help. Our chances of passing have been destroyed, so I have nothing to lose."

Ten-Ten shook her head and started stomping out toward Neji and Shino, "No! You're not going out there alone to fight those guys, Neji!"

"Yes, that would be very un-youthful of you!" Rock Lee proclaimed as he backed up his female teammate. "This is not an encounter one can take on alone, through teamwork anything is possible!"

Neji looked at his teammates, as he quietly pocketed the scroll Shino gave to him, "I understand that, which is you and Ten-Ten will be coming with me." They both of them were shocked at how quickly he was abandoning Hinata, but he was exacting revenge so it wasn't that bad. He figured they were better equipped to face off against the trio of Oto shinobi, "Shino will lead us to their location, and from there we'll get Hinata's eyes back."

Ten-Ten placed her hands on her hips and looked at Neji in disbelief, "What makes you think Shino knows where they're at?" She knew Team 8 specialized in tracking, but it had been a long time since they fought the Oto genin.

"The Aburame boy placed a good amount of his bugs on them the moment they started fighting, I'm sure it's still alive," Neji looked at Shino for confirmation and got the nod he was expecting. The boy let a small smirk appear on his face, "Very well then, let's move."

Kiba was slack jawed, watching all them leave him and Hinata alone. It was like they wordlessly gave the order to watch over the unconscious girl, and he had no choice but to comply, "It's just you and me Akamaru.. and Hinata."

Akamaru barked in response.

It was going to be a long day.

. . .

Lapis kicked around the severed head of a shinobi, trying to ease the insatiable boredom that came with 19 draining the life out of an unlucky genin. Another team was dead, but that seemed to be the least of his concerns. He finally punted the head of the boy he just killed and groaned out loud. He stomped over to the boy 19 was absorbing and kicked him in his already limp head, and sent the lifeless husk flying across the forest, "Dude, how much more of this shit do you need?"

Lazuli was quietly kicking her feet from her position, having watched 19 dismantle a team of Amegakure genin with ease, and then drain their chakra one by one. It was a repetitive process, since this wasn't even the first team they had killed today, "Yeah, I'm getting tired of watching you drain the life out these poor pups, 19."

"Orochimaru-sama strictly ordered that we eliminate all Otogakure competition, so we can bolster the village's chances of getting work beyond the Chuunin exam," 19 was given other reasons, but this happened to be one of the more logical and prominent things he had been instructed to do. Kages entered their genin into exams to show off the talents of their villages, and if the three were to wipe out all competition they would come off as a newer, stronger village that could start to take over work in their region, as opposed to Konoha. "We need to set ourselves apart from the rest, twins."

"Twins? That's a new one," Lapis said in reference to the new nickname 19 came up with to address both him and his sister. They were twins, yeah, but he liked to think he had his own identity. "Look, it's cool you want to bend to the old snakes every whim, but let's have some fun 19."

"Fun? What could we possibly do for fun during times like this?" The incredulous genin asked with a furrowed brow.

Neither of the twins expected him to respond in that manner and scrambled to come up with something, "The first person to make it to the tower with the highest body count wins…" Lapis tried to come up with the ultimate prize.

"That's a useless challenge; I've killed 21 of the 78 participants already. You'll never be able to catch up given that there will be deaths among the other examinees," 19 shot down Lapis' game quickly and the boy slumped his shoulders. The chubby boy's icy blue eyes locked on Lapis and he frowned, "We will eliminate whoever crosses paths with us on our way to Son Goku, there will be no branching off for petty games."

"You're such a buzzkill," Lazuli rolled her eyes at the strict 19.

"Once I drain Son Goku of his chakra, we can go to the tower and be done with this test."

. . .

(Forest of Death – By The River)

The quaint sounds of nature were the only things filling one Kabuto Yakushi's ears. He was currently burning fish for him and the rest of his squad while they were out doing reconnaissance of their section of the forest. It would be a while before they actually put their feet to the pavement so to speak and tried hunting down genin to get the scrolls they needed. For now he would enjoy the surprising tranquility that was a 'Forest of Death' morning.

It was quite peaceful when you weren't being attacked by murderous pre-teens or about to be mauled by one of the many deadly animals that lived in the forest. Peaceful was relative in this instance, as he was silently cleaning blood off of a kunai that he used the day before. While he quietly cleaned his equipment, a snake just as quietly slithered out from the thick of the forest and dropped a scroll at his feet. He stared at it in disbelief for a moment, sighing as he stabbed his kunai into the dirt for the time being.

Kabuto opened the scroll and there was only one line of kanji, which read, ' _Change of plans._ ' He pushed his glasses up and nonchalantly tossed the scroll into the fire, watching it disintegrate into ashes with a stale expression. The message he had just received wasn't unexpected, nor untimely, but definitely unwanted on his part. Though no one man ever lived after telling Orochimaru 'no.' He sighed to himself as he started to gather his chakra so he could do a quick scan of the area, "How unfortunate."

He stood up and used a stick to poke through the cooked fish and set it down on the ground to cool off. Kabuto repeated the process until all the fish were in the process of cooling off, and a smile started to cross his face when the smell of cooked food caused a stir in his new friend. He bent over to grab the kunai he stabbed in the ground, and cut up pieces of fish for his guest, "So you're finally waking up."

The last thing the boy remembered was being apart of a fight, so hearing the voice of a stranger wake him up was worrisome, "Who?" He started to sit up and process things, his eyes still hazy from just waking up. His back was wrapped up in bandages, and as his senses were slowly being restored after a full night of sleep; he might have even said that he felt better than when he was stabbed in the back the day before. The last thing he remembered was him about to drown in the river, "You saved me?"

Kabuto nodded as he offered the fish with a polite smile, "Yes, Goku-kun, I saved you."

Goku accepted the fish graciously, nearly sucking it up like a vacuum and then moved on to the next pressing matter. He scanned his person and slumped when he found out his scroll was missing, "Did you steal my scroll guy?" His memory was a bit jumbled after being out for so long.

"No, your scroll was no good," Kabuto revealed as he walked away from Goku so he could finish preparing the fish. "You don't pay attention to detail much do you?"

Goku didn't know what to say in that instance.

"The scroll your teammates gave you was fake, they wanted you feel involved, but still didn't trust you not to lose it," Kabuto informed Goku, who now had a look of disbelief on his face. The silver-haired genin nodded to assure Goku his information was true, since he kept close watch on everyone participating in the exam. Goku was definitely the muscle of the group, he was intelligent in his own right as well, but his happy-go-lucky outlook was his downfall at the moment, "Which is why the scroll exploded when someone tried to open it."

The spiky-haired saiyan chuckled upon hearing that his fake scroll was nothing more than a explosive, "I was going to open it once they got far enough." He never got the chance to because Kin's summon stole it from him before he got the chance to do so. Thank god for that. "So you found me in the river?"

Kabuto simply nodded.

"Why did you help me, aren't we supposed to be enemies?"

Kabuto nodded once more, lowering his head as he grinned, "Yes, but you serve a greater purpose in the grand scheme of things, Son Goku." When a nervous bead of sweat rolled down Goku's face, Kabuto's grin turned into a full smile. "You are all the nourishment that the rabbit goddess needs."

"I'm a carrot?"

That didn't sound like something Goku wanted to be apart of.

. . .

 **Goku is a carrot, Next Chapter: Change of Plans.**


	34. Change Of Plans

**Change Of Plans ~ 34**

Ok, Kabuto was officially spitting out nonsense, and Goku started to back away from the glasses-clad shinobi, "I'm a carrot?" He had to ask to make sure he was hearing things correctly. Goku had been called Kakarot by Vegeta, but a straight up carrot was another thing. "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, you're the key to a lot of things," Kabuto pressed on about the whole 'carrot' thing and Goku dropped a nervous bead of sweat. The creepy grin on his face slowly faded, as he looked over his shoulder and then back at Goku, "but that's a conversation for another time, Goku." He shooed the boy away as he turned to head back into the forest. "Our paths will cross again, Goku, and I won't be as a cordial. For now, you should be thanking me for what I'm about to do."

Before he could truly 'thank' Kabuto for whatever he was going to do, he disappeared into the forest. He let out a heavy sigh and started to push himself off of the ground. It seems like creepier news continued to be dropped on him as time went by. First he discovered his alien heritage in Iwagakure, his grandfather's death in Hoseki, and now he was the 'key' to a lot of things; being the 'carrot' to nourish the 'almighty rabbit' among others. When was it going to stop?

He didn't know how long he had been separated from his team, so that was his main focus for now. With the little chakra he did have, he decided to cross the river and to the other side of the forest. His senses were dulled as his body started to recover, and he couldn't take a step without letting out a pained groan. If he even took a misstep, he would probably sink to the bottom, so he chose his steps wisely.

Little to his knowledge, the moment he flared his chakra; nearly everyone searching for him instantly had a pinpointed location for the missing in action saiyan. He paid it no mind, and made it across safely, taking a slight break upon putting his feet to actual pavement. The boy stared at the dense forest ahead of him and sighed.

For now, he would head back to location of their rendezvous point and go from there. Maybe he'd be able to find a trail.

. . .

(Forest of Death - With Kabuto)

Kabuto stepped forward with his arms wide open, "You can come out now, I know you've been watching." He said to an empty clearing, and out from the shadows came the trio of Oto genin that had been tearing up Forest of Death. Kabuto smiled at the kids, "It seems you're a sliver too late, our new friend has already left."

"Yakushi, you let him go?" 19 didn't sound at all satisfied.

"Direct orders from Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto explained his reasoning, and all but 19 eased up in anger. The normally pale boy was getting red in the face as he stomped forward and looked up at the tall genin. Orochimaru's right hand man pushed up his glasses and snickered while looking down at 19, "It seems as if you don't believe me, 19, but I am not one to lie about orders."

"Give a real reason," 19 furrowed his brow, killing intent starting to leak through his pores now. Orochimaru was a perceptive person, so for him to change his plans for him so suddenly meant that something was going wrong, and he hated being out of the loop. When Kabuto said nothing in return, 19 lashed out at Kabuto, which made the older genin jump away from the boy.

"I didn't know acting on your own accord was apart of your genetic makeup," Kabuto leapt away from the strike and brandished a kunai since he could see things were about to get serious. His eyes moved past 19 and looked at Lapis and Lazuli, who were standing there with smiles on their faces. "Orochimaru-sama will be pleased to know his creations have gone above and beyond expectations, evolving into beings with complex human emotion. I would have never guessed an artificial soul to be capable of this much."

There was brief standoff, as Lapis stepped forward and threw his arm around 19 with a wide grin, "Yeah, about that. We were all actually wondering our purpose in the whole grand scheme of things," He looked at his highly irritated partner who was ready to tear Kabuto to shreds. "It seems like you and the old man like to keep secrets from us, so until you start telling us the truth; we're no longer working for you."

Lazuli joined the two other genin and threw her arm around 19 as well, "The only thing holding back this killing machine from you is us, so it's best for you to cough up what we want to know." She pressed on the issue, "Who are our parents? Where did we come from?" Her whole life was spent in Otogakure, but there was still a lingering memory of something else. She didn't know what, but it was _something_ telling her there was more than meets the eye.

"You think have a real parent, that's cute," Kabuto laughed to himself, getting a frustrated look from all three kids. "You can thank Dr. Gero, a man from Kumogakure for your creation. He desired to create the perfect foot soldier by combining the cells of some of his villages strongest shinobi in a synthetic embryo, and voila! Lapis and Lazuli, the gemstones are born. However, the body he created had no soul, so through impure means he summoned the soul of the deceased and placed it in your bodies." 19 still had a look of confusion on his face, since there was still no explanation for him.

Lapis stared at his hand, but then smiled. He was an undead badass, "That's… awesome!" He balled up his fist as he now looked up at Kabuto. "So I'm basically every great ninja from Kumogakure packed into one."

His sister didn't look as pleased; being something of a zombie made her uneasy, and felt less attractive. How her brother was dealing with such news so easily disturbed her, and made her believe that he might truly be fucked up in the brain, "This explains a lot." There was always a lingering feeling of a past life clinging onto her brain, and it was all making sense now.

Kabuto saw the unease in 19's face, "Now you," He smiled lightly at the chubby boy and held his kunai in front of him defensively. "You were created by Orochimaru-sama, based off of the data we took from Dr. Gero. We were able to make an artificial body, as well as an artificial soul, and placed fake memories in your brain. You are far greater than Lapis and Lazuli, being able to absorb any chakra among other things."

His entire life, he was led to believe that he was an orphan in Otogakure, and Orochimaru had showed him the way, but it was all false. His entire existence was false, and he could no longer take it. 19 _hated_ being lied to, "The end goal in all of this, from what I see," Kabuto raised a curious brow upon hearing him speak. "Is that Orochimaru is trying to create the perfect being, so he can take their body."

"You're right, to a certain degree," Kabuto was still anticipating battle, since the killing intent never ceased.

"I'm fine with that," 19 followed up, but it didn't relieve Kabuto like he thought it would. "However, not being privy to the situation because of an unwanted middle-man is not something I enjoy." The twins let go of their hold on 19 and the boy charged forward at Kabuto, the man swiftly dodging the precise strikes from the artificial human.

Kabuto flipped backwards, "Now I present the question to you," He continued to dodge a string of swift attacks, "What do you plan to achieve from fighting me?" Eventually he was getting tired of avoiding strikes and parried an open palm strike from 19 with his forearm, and intended on breaking away from the exchange, but he was stuck. He tried to rip his arm away, but 19 now had an iron grip around his arm.

19 grinned when he caught Kabuto and started to leap backwards, the twins moving out of his way as he did so. As he trekked backward, his arm started to extend to inhuman lengths, "I know Orochimaru-sama better than you think," He explained as he flipped up a tree and landed in a branch, his arm still extending its length, "He is a snake in every nature possible, and if prove to be stronger than his beloved right-hand, then he'll replace you with me."

Kabuto had to hide the surprise that came with a pike stabbing through his arm, he didn't know about 19's hidden blades in his hand, or the ability to extend his limbs like Orochimaru. He merely snickered in response, "The fact that you think you can defe-" The moment his muscle twitched when he was about to break the hold, his body suddenly shot forward and got dragged across the forest floor, and slammed against the base of the tree. His body was now being dragged upward, scraping against the rough texture of the tree, his skin starting to split open against the wood.

19 lifted the older genin all the way to his level, grabbing his throat with his free hand, and twisted the pike that was in Kabuto's arm repeatedly, "I wouldn't do this if I didn't know I could win." With his hand firmly around Kabuto's throat he squeezed down and started to close the double agent's airways, "You see, even as Orochimaru's right hand; there are things even he won't tell you. You don't think he knows I was supposed to evolve? I'm going to be the ultimate being!"

The silver haired ninja's face twisted in horror at being betrayed by what was supposed to be his subordinate in the pecking order, "W-Why you—" He couldn't choke out anymore words, the bladed pike from 19's other hand shot through his throat and the boy mercilessly dropped to him the ground so he could choke on his own blood. He still had a decent amount of strength left, his hands starting to glow a bright green color as he tried to heal himself in a last ditch effort. Kabuto refused to die this easily.

19 furrowed his brow upon seeing Kabuto trying to survive, and he jumped from the tree branch and buried his feet into Kabuto's chest. The former Oto spy spat a great amount of blood in 19's face in response, and the fat genin wasn't at all bothered by it. The artificial human continued to press down until he saw the life fade out of Kabuto's eyes, and then he smiled.

Lapis grinned upon seeing the way his teammate ended Kabuto's life, while his sister looked on in silent horror. 19 was changing, and it wasn't for the better in her opinion. That sense of humanity the otherwise robotic boy had was slowly fading, and got replaced with a bloodthirsty monster who planned on working his way to the top of the food chain. She hid her discomfort for such a morbid act quickly, "We've wasted a lot of time, we should just go straight to the tower."

19 nodded and wiped the blood away from his face, walking forward to his teammates, and siblings to a certain degree, "For once, I agree, I have a feeling we'll have a surprise waiting for us when we arrive."

. . .

(Outside of 19 v. Kabuto)

Rock Lee looked back with a confused expression, his eyes locking with the lone Hyuga in their squad, who had his hand locked around Lee's arm to prevent him from jumping in to ambush the trio of Oto-genin. The boy furrowed his brow, "It is very un-loyal and most importantly, un-youthful to let a fellow Konohagakure shinobi be killed by an enemy village." The bushy-browed genin had only met Kabuto in passing, but regardless they wore the same headband, and he would always help a comrade.

When he felt Rock Lee wasn't going to run off and tried to pounce on the Oto-genin, Neji let his arm go. The pale-eyed boy shut his eyelids and sighed, "Were you not listening? Yakushi Kabuto was a traitor, who was conspiring with Orochimaru. He will not be missed." It was harsh, but it was truth they were all going to have to accept. Apparently Lee hadn't heard the conversation, but Neji at least read their lips with his Byakugan. "I looked all three of the genin over; there were no signs of sealing the Byakugan eyes. He must have destroyed them."

Ten-Ten groaned, "We came all this way though, I thought you wanted to avenge your cousin?" She asked with a raised brow, and got a shake of the head in return from her stoic teammate.

"The plan was to fix this," Neji corrected her and stood up on the branch. "If he truly destroyed Hinata's eyes, there's nothing I can do, and believe it or not we no longer had the element of surprise. They sensed our presence but chose not to engage, and it had to be for a reason." The boy started to leap away from the scene, leaving the remainder of the make-shift squad to revel in what had just happened.

Shino looked at Ten-Ten and Rock Lee, "Believe or not, Neji is right, why? Because during our first encounter, they had great enough sensory ability to indentify us all the way down to our bloodlines without even seeing us." His eyes shifted toward the direction Neji disappeared to, ignoring his team slumping upon being shot down so easily. While it was true what Neji told them, he still left out some major points. Neji was confident in his strength, and Shino knew that, but he saw something inside 19 that made him not want to engage.

The bug-user's kikaichū sensed it as well and couldn't identify the anomaly either. Just what exactly were those kids?

. . .

(Forest Of Death – With Goku)

The spiky haired genin bounced through the trees with a worried expression on his face as he tried to get back to the rendezvous point his team set. An entire section of the forest had been leveled while he slept, and he couldn't help but wonder who was unlucky enough to be caught in that blast. He shook his head of the thoughts of his teammates being caught up in that, and dropped out of the trees.

The entire section of the forest was devoid of any animals, let alone shinobi trying to slice his throat open. Where the hell was everybody? Did he sleep through the entire test? The boy walked through a patch of land and tried to navigate, ignoring the high pitched noise that was constantly fading in and out of his ears.

As he walked, the sound only got worse, and the ringing was beginning to make his head hurt. Goku placed a hand on the top of his head and rubbed soothingly, but it did nothing to ease the irritating noise that was about to make him explode. It was like listening to an idle radio with the volume all the way up and he just wanted to make it go away.

'Is this some sort of genjutsu?' He asked himself, forming a hand seal when on top of the ringing noise came a bit of static. Goku looked around for any possible enemies but couldn't see a single soul around trying to pounce on him. He arched his brow and continued to walk forward, and the noise only continued to get worse.

' _aetoisfakjsalkfjea~~oksafijefaifj…._ '

A mixture of static and gibberish filtered into Goku's ears and he took a few cautious steps forward. He smiled when the unbearable noise started to get quieter, "Are you trying to say something?" He asked absolutely no one, not even expecting a response.

' _xaicjai~~is thaniteijteijsk…_ '

"Is thaaaaa?" Goku responded to the weird voice that was calling out to him.

Was he talking to a ghost right?

"Grandpa Gohan?" Goku asked the air with a glint of hope in his voice. He would love to talk to his Grandpa one more time.

' _safsojfdai~~no baka… it's mao.'_ Things were finally clear between Mao's communication jutsu and Goku.

The boy scratched his head, the voice that was interacting to him sounded more computerized like Shidō than Mao, but he'd believe the voice for now. He wasn't even sure he was hearing the voice, since it didn't make a noise other than the terrible ringing in his head that had long since faded once he was in range, "Hey Mao, long time no see!" He yelled out in the empty clearing. No one was there to see how crazy he looked.

' _If you don't mind me asking, Goku, where the hell have you been?_ '

"I don't know, I got jumped by some Iwagakure kids, and I woke up by the river this morning," Goku recalled and smiled when he remembered that he had given Kin a fake scroll for his efforts. "At what point were you going to tell me that my scroll was fake, Mao?"

' _Look, Goku, that's not important right now, you need to meet up with us. We have all the scrolls we need, so we can go to the tower now. Keep going straight from where you're at, as long as my jutsu is active you should be able to track our location._ '

With a new found vigor Goku picked his pace back up and jumped into the trees. If Mao's directions were right, she and Chi-Chi would be waiting on him not too far from where he was. Mao's chakra was very potent and easy to follow, and it was to the point that he had to wonder just how deep her reserves ran. It was almost inhuman, but that was something for another day.

He needed to get there quicker than a potential enemy, since she was giving away her location to help him find her. Anybody with a brain would be able to track down Mao in a matter of seconds, and he wasn't exactly in the condition to be fighting off waves of enemies. Luckily he was close by, and they didn't have to scramble around the forest looking for scrolls.

If his mental clock wasn't wrong, it was only the second day of the exam, and they were bound to be finished before the beginning of the third day. It wasn't remarkable time, but it was damn good, and the sooner they could rest as a team the better, since they all knew what came next.

Goku could feel that a lot of the remaining participants had moved to this part of the forest after whatever happened in the section he was leaving from. He remembered when the exam first started, and how lively the forest was, but now it felt like he could run through an open clearing unarmed and not have to worry about fighting. Even the animals were disappearing.

He knew death was apart of the test, but just how many people had died while taking the exam?

He shouldn't have been able to travel as hassle free as he had been, and he knew that. The boy wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth though, and dropped out of the trees when he started to hone in on the chakra beacon that was currently Mao. His ears perked up when he heard two females talking, and knew they couldn't be that far from where he was, "Hey guys, I'm back!"

When he ran into the patch of land his team was at, his feet stopped running so eagerly. He looked at Chi-Chi, who looked sort of relieved to see after being separated for an entire day, and then to Mao; whose eyes were currently full of fear. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks when she saw Goku for the first time since yesterday. She thought he would never make it in time. His own eyes went wide upon seeing what was going on, and he balled up his fist.

A prideful voice sounded off with a laugh, "Did you really think you could go this long without seeing me, Kakarot?"

. . .

 **The end of the Forest Of Death is coming next chapter, because it is so hard to write for me, and there's an actual plot I'm prolonging by keeping this going, but it'll at least go out with a bang. Next Chapter: Goku The Genius II**


	35. Goku The Genius II

**Goku The Genius 2 ~ 35**

Vegeta had a kunai held to Mao's throat, "Did you really think you could go this long without seeing me, Kakarot?" He grinned when he saw the look of utter shock on Goku's face once he ran happily into the clearing. The prince had been waiting a long time for this moment, "You didn't really think this girl's chakra was strong enough to guide you, did you? I augmented her jutsu to draw you out, and it worked perfectly."

Despite the situation, Goku laughed while scratching his head, "I knew I'd see you, I just hoped it wouldn't be right now." He wasn't at full strength by a long shot, and a fight with Vegeta wasn't what he needed at the moment. Goku walked up to Chi-Chi's side while cracking his knuckles, "So why don't we just go our merry ways, Vegeta, we can do this another time."

Chi-Chi noticed the bandages underneath Goku's top and the few minor burns he had on his face. He looked like he had taken a beating, yet his presence felt stronger whether he knew it or not. She reached into her equipment and pulled out a kunai, tossing it to Goku, "Don't be such a puss Goku, we can handle him together." When Goku turned his head and smiled awkwardly, she furrowed her brow, "How do you even know this guy?"

"Um, long story," Being ran out of Iwagakure with a transformed Vegeta on his ass shooting fireballs left a lasting memory, and somehow the boy holding Mao hostage felt even stronger than their first encounter. He wasn't awake to see Vegeta fight off the Ichibi, but that certainly wouldn't have helped his case either. Even K told him to run if he crossed paths with Vegeta, but the variable in the situation was him having his teammate, "Hand Mao over first, and then we can have the fight that you want so bad."

"That's all I wanted to hear, Kakarot," Vegeta threw Mao across the clearing and she tumbled right to Goku's feet. The spiky haired kumo-genin braced himself to take off running toward Vegeta, but Chi-Chi beat him to the punch. He watched in awe as the girl jumped into the air and then slammed her fist into the ground. While a normal person probably would have broken their hand and looked like a damn fool, Chi-Chi's punch had much better results.

Everyone else nearly lost their footing as the ground before Vegeta shattered, and a huge cloud of dust and debris was kicked up into the air. Using the cloud she created as a distraction, Chi-Chi was instantly running back to her team, shaking the pain away from her hand, "Don't just stare at me, let's go!" She grabbed a disgruntled Mao off of the ground, and a shocked Goku quickly ran after her. If a head strong person like Goku thought it was a bad idea to fight, she knew it had to be a terrible idea then.

They took to the trees and started moving in the opposite direction so they could put distance between them and Vegeta. Goku was still amazed by Chi-Chi's sudden show of strength, "When did you get that strong? That was awesome!" He couldn't fight back his childish glee after seeing her cause a mini-earthquake with just her hand.

"I'm not that strong, it's just a jutsu my dad taught me," The girl explained, now having Mao hoisted over her shoulder as they bounced through the forest. She looked down at her bloody knuckle and frowned, since she had yet to master said jutsu. Chi-Chi looked at Goku, "It's called _Gyūmaō No Ken (Ox King Fist)_." A technique she didn't plan on using until she could properly control it, but with desperate times came desperate measures.

"If you don't mind me saying, we need to head to the tower," Mao had seen how battered Goku looked upon arriving on the scene. "Even with the three of us, we're in no condition to fight." She said as wind was flying into her face while they traveled, "My chakra is exhausted and I need adequate time to rest."

Goku nodded, remembering the picture of the map they saw before entering the forest, "If we follow the river, we should be able to make it to the center before morning comes." He had already factored in the inevitable encounters from enemy ninja, wild animals, and the fact that they were all injured or exhausted to a degree. "Follow me," since he had just came from the river he knew exactly where to go. He leapt ahead of the two girls and began their trek to the body of water.

Oops, he forgot to factor in Vegeta.

The prince of all saiyans flew through the air like a hawk, and grabbed Goku off of the branch like he was sneaking up on his prey. Vegeta grinned while Goku struggled to break free from his iron grip, "That whole cut and run bid you and your wenches did was cute, but that's not enough to lose me." Vegeta started flying closer to the ground and forcefully dragged Goku's face through the dirt while going at high speeds. It wasn't a pretty sight, but damn was it entertaining.

Goku instantly spat out all of the accumulated mud and bugs that he nearly swallowed as Vegeta started to ascend higher into the air, latching onto Vegeta's arms, and the two saiyan boys were now full-out wrestling in the sky. Goku still had a kunai in his other hand, cutting away at Vegeta's torso, sending blood flying everywhere, while the Iwa-genin was punching Goku in his face repeatedly, but couldn't get him to let go.

Vegeta's shirt was sliced open and Goku smiled when he was how heavily bandaged the saiyan was. He was in no condition to fight either, and a small glint of hope shined in Goku's eyes when he saw the bloodstained bandages. Now he knew where to aim, as he tried to land another stab right at his ribs to reinjure whatever the boy was trying to heal, and Vegeta wasn't having it, "No!" The boy knocked the kunai out of Goku's hands, and the Kumo-native tried to reach out and grab it before it fell to ground.

Apparently he reached too far.

Goku lost his grip on Vegeta and immediately started dropping to the ground. Since he risked it all for the bladed weapon, he figured he might as well use it. Loading the kunai with chakra, it set ablaze and he tossed it with the remainder of his strength at the still airborne Vegeta. The boy was clutching at the surprisingly deep wounds Goku had landed, and barely even noticed the kunai coming for his head. Kumo's resident alien was pleased when he heard a scream of pain before he himself hit the ground with a nearly back-breaking thud.

That would have been the perfect time to find out he could manipulate wind chakra, but the universe wasn't _that_ kind. Pain washed all over his body after being dropped from so high, and his vision grew hazier as the adrenaline from fighting an overpowered alien child in the middle of air was starting to wear off. He placed his hand on his face when he felt blood trickling down from his nose, "Great, my nose is broken."

He had hit the ground so hard, all of the birds that were perched on the trees flew away and other smaller animals scurried off as they unknowingly gave away his location. If Vegeta had _any_ strength left, he could swoop down and kill him with no problems. Goku shut his eyes and let out a deep, pained sigh as he reopened them and stared to the sky. The spot where he once saw Vegeta was now nothing but blue with white speckled clouds passing over.

After being so thoroughly beaten once again, he was exhausted and could barely sense half the things going on around him. He probably wouldn't know where Vegeta was until after he was killed by the prince. Goku chuckled to himself, turning his head, but didn't even gasp in surprise when there was a bear cub hovering over his body sniffing him. He could barely make the bear out through now swollen eyes, but he still smiled, "Hey, little buddy."

 **XxX**

(Moments later – with Vegeta)

"Damn, Kakarot," he was getting tired of shinobi's methods of fighting. Everything they did was nothing but silly magic and cheap tricks to him. Vegeta had dropped down to the forest floor to follow Goku's trail, while also feeling at the newly created wound on his face. At first, Goku had left multiple cuts all over his chest, and reopened a few wounds from his fight with Gaara, but he decided to follow up by leaving a permanent scar on his right cheek.

If hadn't moved his head quickly enough, he'd probably have a kunai lodged right between his eyes, but he narrowly avoided the knife. There was a deep gash on his right cheek, which wouldn't have been a problem, but it seemed that Goku was outgoing and decided to layer his last ditch effort with fire chakra, and now there was a burn surrounding his cut. He ran his hand over it just to see how deep it was and frowned.

For now he would focus on stopping the blood that was flowing so freely down his cheek, and then he'd have Mai stitch it up after he ended Kakarot for good. He was currently walking through the thick of the forest, starting to see signs of where the boy crashed. There was a thin cloud of dust that was still in the air from when he landed, and his eyes fell upon the downed form of Goku with blood flowing from his nose, and huge swollen eyes, "You look terrible, Kakarot."

The bear cub lifted its head and turned to look at the newcomer in Vegeta. Since it was technically just a curious baby, it started walking toward Vegeta with observant eyes. Vegeta narrowed his eyes and looked at the bear cub with a smile, "Don't think your friend is going to save you, Kakarot, your time is up." He held his hand out toward the bear and it started to glow with ki, but before he could end the poor cub's life; he heard loud foot steps getting closer at an alarming rate.

Goku's head was still turned in the direction the baby bear had walked in from, and through his swollen eyes he saw the gigantic mother bear rushing to the scene. It was far bigger than any regular bear he had seen in his life. So these were the deadly animals that Anko talked about? He heard even more giant footsteps following after the huge mother and he mentally cursed, 'Shit, stay still, stay still!' It wasn't that hard of a task for him, since he hadn't really moved since he dropped out of the sky.

Vegeta on the other hand was too prideful, yet ignorant to even know that you were supposed to stay still in a bear attack. He wasn't even from Earth, and his time on Earth was spent fighting humans; not animals, and he definitely spent zero time in the academy. Little did he know, the earthly saiyan Goku had an advantage right now.

The humongous bear stood up on its hind legs to reveal its true height, coming in at about twelve feet tall. It let out a loud roar, and the bears that followed after it did the same; the rest varying in heights in comparison to their obvious leader, but were still huge in their own right. The mother sensed her baby was in trouble the moment Vegeta started circulating ki, and the boy decided to now focus it on her.

The saiyan shot a quick blast of ki right at the mother bear, and his jaw nearly dropped when the blast only irritated her instead of out right downing it like he intended. Collective growling was now starting to surround Vegeta who warily took a step back, preparing to fight at least eight bears while he was injured, but he was still the most confident person on the planet. Despite the numbers he liked his odds. He'd be damned if he just came off of a victory against a tailed beast and lost to a mere forest animal.

Goku suddenly felt himself being dragged across the ground and looked up to see Mao. He hadn't even heard her walk up, and apparently no else did. The boy opened his mouth to say something but Mao pinched his arm and held her index finger over her mouth. He took that as his cue to 'shut up,' and allowed himself to be dragged away from the scene.

 **XxX**

(Night Time – Forest of Death – With Chi-Chi, Goku, and Mao)

The entire team was extremely relieved after escaping Vegeta, leaving him to be mauled by an entire pack of bears. They were positive he'd make it out alive, but if he didn't; at least Chi-Chi wouldn't be that disappointed by it. Mao and Goku were currently knocked out cold after so thoroughly exhausting their chakra for the entire day. Goku had been in two near death fights, while Mao ran her reserves down from the night to the morning in their search for their lost teammate.

Chi-Chi smiled when they were finally all together once again, in relative peace. Since they had put in a lot of work, she figured she could pick up where they left off and get them to the tower, so they could get true medical attention, and rest without worrying about being attacked. Chi-Chi was currently rowing a life boat across the water, feeling slight pain in her fractured hand after shattering the ground earlier.

Thanks to a handy capsule she retrieved from Bulma before the exam started, they cut the travel time down by a great margin. The original plan was to water walk on the river until they made it far enough to run in a straight shot to the tower, but that would have taken far longer since Goku and Mao needed rest, and moving on foot couldn't compare to the time they were making on the life boat. It also killed two birds with one stone, they could keep moving and the exhausted teammates could sleep.

The sounds of the waves crashing against each other as she rowed through the water were calming and almost hypnotic to a degree. Since no one else had access to a boat, or were daring enough to run all the way down a raging river like they were willing to; they were left alone. Everyone else would be either finding somewhere to camp out at, or just fighting within the depths of the forest for a scroll anyway, so she expected as much.

Rowing through the waters was tougher than she anticipated, and her arms were starting to get tired. Her shoulders slumped, the boat still being carried by the direction of the water and Chi-Chi took a breather for a quick second.

"Giving up already?"

Her head turned to see Goku pushing himself off of the floor of the life-boat. She offered a weak smile, and he grinned toothily back at her, "No, I've been at this for a few hours; I think I can handle it." Chi-Chi resumed rowing, taking control of the boat from the waters and continued navigating them toward the center of the forest. After being on the river for so long, her mind was jumbled and got hard to stay focused after listening to the sounds of the waves for hours. She wouldn't bring herself to admit it, but she was tired, and her teammate could sense that.

Goku's soft hand was placed over her own and he gently guided her away from her seat, taking her place in rowing the boat. It was the least he could after her and Mao had saved him earlier, "You've been working really hard Chi-Chi, no need to push yourself." Sure he was the closest thing to being completely broken, but after a few hours of sleeping he figured he could handle a little boat action.

"Thank you, Goku," She sat on the floor and leaned back on her hands. The girl stared up into the night sky that was decorated with stars. This exam was hectic the moment they stepped into the forest and it was nice to relax, especially knowing that they were closed to being finished. If this was what true shinobi life entailed; she was anticipating quite the career. The girl shut her eyes and let the gentle breeze flow past her, "I never expected you be this brave."

Goku tilted his head while he rowed, "Um, what do you mean?" He never really _tried_ to act brave; it was an innate thing that he had no control over.

"N told me about what you did back in Hoseki, fighting against those S-Class criminals, and even now fighting to protect Mao and I even though you were injured. I haven't seen you back down," Chi-Chi praised the boy that she saw a lot of growth in. He was different from their graduation, going from something a slacker and class clown to a strong shinobi in the making. He had even lost the tail he seemed so attached to, "I thought you and N were just going to be flies on the wall, but you two really stepped up."

The alien boy smiled, "Eh, school's not really my thing." He said with a bit of a laugh. The entire group of students he hung around with was underachievers in the academy, just floating by to get it over with. "I've been training my whole life to be the best, and I just want to be strong enough to protect the people I care about. I guess that's where that whole bravery thing comes from." Goku felt the heat of Chi-Chi's body wrapped around his when she pulled him into a soft hug.

"So you're admitting you care about me, how sweet," Chi-Chi rested her head against Goku's back and listened to the sweet sound of his heart beating. A regular boy's heart would have been beating out of their chest from this type of attention, but Goku was completely calm. She could tell that he was far from normal, and she was right in her assumption in more ways than one. The girl kept her arms wrapped around his torso to keep her comfortable, "I want to be strong too; in fact I want to be the strongest woman to ever live."

"I think you can be stronger than that, you should aim for strongest _person_ to ever live, man or woman," Goku motivated the girl that was tightly wrapped around him right now. He could tell how tired she was, so he wouldn't fight it. The boy broke his eyes away from the river in front of him and turned his head slightly to smile at Chi-Chi, "I'm going to need some competition in the future."

Chi-Chi rolled her eyes playfully, readjusting her body to she could place her fingers around Goku's chin, and slowly started leaning in, "You know, there's something else I've been dying to tell you, Goku." The air between them started to feel different, and she rubbed her nose against his and the two genin smiled at each other. They both knew there was some kind of attraction between them since their academy days, but they never had any real time to act on it. Now was as good of a time as any, since once they entered the tower the needed to focus on the next part of the test.

Before Goku could get a kiss from someone that wasn't his mother, Mao let out a silent gasp awkwardly that made both of them turn to look at the glasses-clad genin, "I hate to interrupt, but Goku, please pay attention to the waters." She had just woken up, so she discovered what was going on far too late for there to be any better reaction than the one she had. The only reason she hadn't outright screamed was because she _did_ want Goku and Chi-Chi to have their moment, but their display of affection could be showcased another time.

Goku and Chi-Chi were so caught up in the moment they didn't realize they were going straight for a cliff. The boy's head whipped forward and it was too late, the entire life boat was sent flying over the cliff and down the length of the waterfall. All three of them were screaming at the top of their lungs, since it was a fifteen foot drop to the ground, and they had no idea how deep the waters at the bottom of the waterfall were.

It was a long drop, but not long enough where you could see your life flash before your eyes, or even think of a plausible plan to leave without a few broken bones. Chi-Chi instinctively grabbed onto Goku's forearm and Mao did the same to her. "Does anyone have anything to say before we hit the water?" Mao asked while they continued to drop.

No response.

After breaking up their little moment, Mao expected as much. She closed her eyes as all three of them were plunged underwater, smacking against the river with a pained groan. Luckily the waters were just as deep as the ones above, and they would probably endure a few fractured bones among other things, but they were at least alive. With her being the closest to the surface she tried to swim upward while Chi-Chi and Goku were latched onto her.

The trio climbed onto the surface, their clothes sticking to their bodies, and Goku let out another pained groaned as his already destroyed shirt stuck against his wounds. Mao let out a sigh of relief after not only surviving, but looking up from her position to see the tower they were so desperately searching for blocking out their view of the moon. She tapped Chi-Chi, who smiled when she saw the tower as well.

They were almost done.

 **XxX**

"Oh, you look like shit," Mai complimented as Vegeta stumbled back to their small camp hours after his departure. She couldn't help but grin at seeing his condition. He was fine for the most part, but he was covered in blood and flesh from his head all the way to his toes. It obviously wasn't his, because alien or not; nobody loses that much blood and walks away from it, "Looks like you just fought an army."

Being attacked from all angles by enemies that were bigger than you and just as bloodthirsty was not something Vegeta enjoyed. He flicked away a piece of brain matter from one of the bear's and sat down on the ground calmly, like he wasn't completely drenched in blood. The images of cutting through them with a chakra enhanced kunai were still in his head, and it took _a lot_ to kill an already mutated bear from the forest of death. If there were any more of them, he might have actually lost a limb, but in the end he prevailed.

The thing that irked him the most was Goku managed to slip away while he was fighting the bears off. The damn bastard was going to pay for running away from battle _again_. The next time they faced off, he would make him suffer, "Come here, girl, I need you to re-stitch my wounds." He ordered and she rolled her eyes as she got up from her spot and started pulling out medical equipment.

"I hear no mention of killing Kakarot, it sounds like you failed," Raditz teased and got an irritated glance in return from Vegeta. "I knew you couldn't defeat him, he fights like one of _them_ and that's your biggest weakness." The boy who had previously had his hand cut off by Vegeta had no problem poking fun at his forthcomings for some reason. It was just the way true saiyans interacted.

"Your little brother would have you joining Nappa in the afterlife, so I'd rather you shut your mouth. You can't back up half the things you say," Vegeta shot back and winced in pain when Mai poked at the newly acquired cut on his cheek. She frowned as she pulled out a senbon, preparing to stitch it closed, "Pick you next move wisely, girl." He didn't want to feel anymore pain than what he was already experiencing, and Mai poking and prodding at his wounds certainly wasn't going to help heal them. "Don't touch me unless you're making an active effort to fix this."

She frowned as she started cleaning up the wound with the little bit of water she had left in a canteen and a piece of cloth. Mai had nothing to sterilize the wound properly, so he would have to run the risk of infection until they got actual medical attention, "This is going to hurt a little bit."

 **XxX**

(Forest of Death – Tower – Three Days Later)

Goku strolled into the area all the remaining contestants were summoned to. He was actually the last to arrive, since his team had been resting up inside the tower for days, while there were teams that had just arrived the morning of the last day. His nose was wrapped up in bandages, and his burn wounds had been treated during their three day stay at the tower. The newly arrived team wasn't given any time to really recover, other than the down time right now as the prepped for the next portion of the exam.

The saiyan's eyes traced around the small arena type setting they were being held in. In the far end of the mostly empty space, was a giant screen attached to the wall, and a statue of the seal of confrontation. It gave him a foreboding feeling that he was about to duke it out with some unlucky genin from a foreign village. He looked up and saw there was an area for spectators, which was filled with the Jounin sensei of all the genin present.

Among them he saw Master Roshi, and, of course, staring blankly at him from the higher ground was his sensei 'The Limitless K.' His stoic expression told him everything he needed to, and he sent a smile to the man in return. His eyes kept moving along the room, taking note of who made it to the next stage of their exam.

Of course, there was the strange team of Oto genin, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, Neji's team, Vegeta's team, his teammates of course, and last but not least; N's team. The blonde haired Akatsuki recruit was catching a few glances he wished he could avoid, especially from K. While his outward expression didn't let off much, after being around K so much; N knew what he was saying through his eyes alone. He looked away, since he couldn't explain himself right now.

Even Mao, his former teammate looked at him with eyes wanting some form of explanation. He had an armband with the symbol that the very same man who had killed their sensei and nearly blown Krillin to pieces wore on his cloak. Luckily for the newest Akatsuki recruit, the chatter among genin and Jounin was brought to a close by the appearance of the seasoned face of the Hokage.

"First of all, I'd like to congratulate you all for passing the second part of the test," The Hokage looked among the crowd and took a mental count of how many heads he saw. Eighteen genin had survived the forest of death, "But before I explain the third test, I want you to know the true meaning behind this exam." From that point on, Goku had completely tuned out the old man as he looked up to the spectators and saw the same black cloak with red clouds among the other Jounin.

The grey eyes of the woman stared back at Goku, and her stoic face almost rivaled K's. Goku got an uneasy feeling as the blue haired woman bore a hole into him from faraway and he broke away from their impromptu staring contest. The first time he had encountered Akatsuki, they tried to kidnap him, and they literally ended up kidnapping N; who was actually standing not too far from him.

The words, "I forfeit," being uttered from his teammates mouth brought him back to reality after spacing out for so long. Goku's eyes widened when those words came from Mao's mouth, and she bowed as she backed away from the crowd and went to join the Jounin above the arena space. Clearly she knew something he didn't and he could only watch in awe as she walked off.

"Anybody else?"

Mai raised her hand and started walking away from the crowd as well, "I'm forfeiting too." She couldn't reveal her trump card just yet or the Tsuchikage would kill her.

"That leaves sixteen participants," The Hokage mused aloud and smiled. "Only half of you will pass and advance to the finals. Since there will be a lot of important spectators from all over the continent, I cannot let the main event run too long. All sixteen of you will participate in a preliminary round, and eight of you will continue on to the finals one month from now." He looked to the chosen referee and gestured for him to explain the rest.

A sickly looking Chuunin stepped up and explained in the Hokage's stead, "The fights will be one-on-one, and you'll be fighting as if it were a real life confrontation. There are sixteen participants, so there will be eight matches, and the winners will advance to the final round." He let the explanation settle and then continued talking, "There are no rules. The only way to lose is death or being knocked out, if we feel one of you is no longer in the condition to fight then we'll call the match. The matches will be decided by the electronic scoreboard," He coughed between talking and pointed at the scoreboard that was above the statue.

Names started flittering on the screen and everyone in attendance watched in anticipation for the first match to be announced.

The screen finally stopped going through names and stopped on Akimichi Choji and Raditz. Everyone else cleared out from the area and left the chubby Konohagakure native and the one-handed saiyan. Murmurs were heard all over the place, 'he only has one hand,' among other things. The saiyan looked into the stands with a furrowed brow and set to prove the crowd wrong the moment their match began.

"Participants, are you ready?"

They stood across from each other, Raditz with a stale expression for Choji, while the brown haired boy smiled at his opponent. They both nodded and the proctor yelled, "Begin!"

"You can do it fat ass, he only has one hand!" Ino yelled enthusiastically from the stands.

His sensei rubbed his head, not being able to give Choji the proper motivation to fight since he was chosen to go first. The fact that he made it this far was an accomplishment in itself, since out of the 60 participants that failed, 40 of them were dead and 10 of them were declared missing. That left 10 who just outright failed, but even those people left with some kind of lasting memory from the forest that wasn't at all positive. For now he could just put his trust in his student that he would utilize the lessons he did learn.

Choji's chakra exploded outward and he multiplied in size, taking on a very round appearance, "Baika No Jutsu (Expansion Technique)!" Raditz watched with an un-amused expression on his face, not moving a single inch despite Choji obviously going on the offensive. The large genin tucked his limbs inside of his body and propelled himself into a speedy roll across the ground, and Raditz leapt out of the way.

He skipped around Choji and moved behind him, "Is that all you've got fat as-" The rolling form of Choji suddenly switched directions and was now rolling head on at him once more. His previous assumption of Choji only being able to move in straight lines was thrown out the window, and he would actually have to put some effort into not being flattened by Choji's technique. He grit his teeth since the boy was surprisingly fast in that form, and had no time to avoid him.

Raditz threw his only hand forward and showed off his strength by stopping Choji, who was still spinning rapidly despite his path being halted. The saiyan furrowed his brow, not being able to hold Choji for that long, and he slowly started to lose position, his feet were gradually skidding across the ground. Lest he wanted to be ran into a wall and ultimately squished, he had to think of something.

"To be able to stop Choji with just one hand…" Shikamaru said as he watched the battle closely.

"He must be really strong," A bead of sweat ran down Ino's head, worried for her teammate. She doubted Raditz at first glance since he had an obvious handicap and a not so imposing stature, but from what she had seen; he could probably out muscle her with just one hand, so she could only imagine what he was capable of with two hands.

K knew what he was capable of, and Goku had the slightest idea as well. The Kumo-genin was watching this match intensely, since this was the same boy that claimed to be his brother. Even though his partner tried to and was still actively trying to kill him, he didn't think that negatively of Raditz. Before Vegeta put a fireball up his entire team's backside, he offered him the chance join them, and he seemed to have some interesting in knowing Goku, but they were simply working for two different nations.

He almost wanted to cheer for Raditz, but he stayed silent, and continued watching the match.

With his back nearly to the wall, metaphorically and literally; Raditz hunkered down and used the strength of his legs under him and magnificently lifted the still spinning Choji off the ground, tossing him into the air. There were a lot of surprised gasps at his immense strength and he smiled at their shock. Choji stopped spinning once he had been thrown, and Raditz took the opportunity of him free falling to the ground to his advantage.

He leapt off of his right foot and bounced off of the wall for momentum and met Choji's body in the sky. Since he had lost his hand in the forest, he figured he might as well get used to using his feet. Raditz swung his leg around and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to Choji's side that sent him flying into the seal of confrontation statue and absolutely shattering it. He landed gracefully on the ground and after a few seconds of Choji not getting up; the match was declared over.

"Winner: Raditz!"

Raditz calmly returned to the stands with his team, getting a few surprised looks from the Konoha faithful and that was about it.

 **XxX**

After the medical team moved the unconscious Choji from the arena, they continued to the next match.

 _Yamanaka Ino v. Ten-Ten_

Ino read her name on the screen and smiled, "Wish me luck Shikamaru," she looked at the boy expecting some kind of good luck, but his mouth twitched slightly, but found himself too lazy to actually say anything to motivate his teammate. "When I win, I'm going to make sure we fight each other in the finals so I can whip your lazy ass into shape."

"I don't think I'm going to make it that far to be honest," Shikamaru admitted lazily and rested his arms on the railing. "Stop being troublesome and go fight your match."

The blonde rolled her eyes as she walked off, believe or not; that was as close as motivational speech you would get from Shikamaru, so she'd accept it for now. She went to the center to meet her patiently waiting opponent in Ten-Ten and they didn't say a word once they met eyes. Ino had never met the girl personally, and with this being their first formal meeting; she didn't want to give away too much.

"Begin!"

There were no initial movements, since neither of them wanted to be the one to take the first move. Ino hated being a clan-child sometimes, and this was one of those moments. While people were taught to expect the unexpected, it was hard to get enemies to follow that motto when facing someone with a well known Hiden or Kekkei Genkai. People already had a general idea of what you were capable of, and a preconceived notion of how you fought.

Ten-Ten on the other hand had no such attachment to her name. Ino had no idea what she could do and how she might move. While the mind transfer technique the Yamanaka's used was famous, it wasn't exactly combat friendly. As long as she kept moving, Ino's most useful technique would be null and void against her, and it would boil down to a battle of basic academy skills and taijutsu. Ten-Ten outclassed her in every way possible in those facets, save for genjutsu.

"I hate to tell you, Asuma," Might Guy offered a huge smile to Sarutobi Asuma and gave him a thumbs up. "Ino is no match for my precious Ten-Ten! The power of youth will guide her to victory."

Lee ran in to join the conversation, "And if Ten-Ten does not win, I will run five hundred laps around the village the moment this exam is over to restore the balance of youthfulness among our team!" He held his fist up with pride, tears of joy streaming from his eyes uncontrollably.

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEEEEEEE!"

"GAI-SENSEEEI!"

Asuma hadn't even gotten a chance to open his mouth before he started watching the bushy-brow duo run off into a sunset that appeared out of nowhere. He rolled his eyes, "I'm going to need a cigarette after this."

K watched Lee and Gai's strange interaction, "A genjutsu with no chakra involved, Konoha ninja are truly amazing."

Ten-Ten furrowed her brow when she saw her team currently making a scene, "Oi! Would you two stop already, I'm trying to win a fight down here!" She just wished that for _one_ day, let alone a few minutes that the green jumpsuit wearing duo could behave like mature men, but that was nothing but a dream.

 **XxX  
**

Ino was on the ground in a bloody, cut up heap of what she once was. Ten-ten _did. Not. Miss._ Her deadly accuracy left the blonde unable to fight, and it looked like the bun-wearing kunoichi hadn't even broken a sweat. Her brown eyes looked over to the referee, placing her hands on her hips while she waited on him to call the match.

"Winner: Ten-ten!"

That's what she wanted to hear. Ten-ten smiled to herself and walked out of the arena to go and join her sensei, who was currently crying at how 'youthful' her match had been.

"That's two-thirds of your team eliminated already," Neji turned to look at Shikamaru, who seemed unfazed by what was going on. "You're the only remaining hope for them."

Shikamaru looked up at his sensei, "If I forfeit, we can all go home, right?" A hesitant nod came from his sensei and he instantly raised his hand, but had it shot back down by the very same man. "You saw what that kid did to Choji, with one hand… I don't want any parts in that."

Asuma patted the boy on the head, "Trust me, you can do it." He walked off to go join his other students in the medical bay for the time being, since he fully believed Shikamaru could win if he were to fight next. Choji and Ino probably needed more of a morale boost than he did, "Don't forfeit while I'm gone or I'll have you doing D-Rank missions all summer."

"What a drag."

Ino was carried off on a stretcher and all eyes in attendance suddenly shifted to the screen once more. It returned to life and names started appearing on the screen.

 _Hyūga Neji v. 19_

The chubby genin was standing with his sensei, who was a tall man with an Otogakure headband around his head, two bangs framing his face, and a long pony tail. They hadn't said a word to each until now, " _Where is Kabuto?_ " He hissed lowly in the ear of his student, and got an amused smirk in response from the equally paper-white child.

" _I killed him_ ," 19 said back to his sensei as he then walked off toward the arena. He caught a few nervous glances from Mao and Ten-ten, but ultimately locked eyes with the very Hyūgahe was supposed to fight. An evil smile crossed his face as the two were walking down the stairs right next to each other. "I'll have you know, Hyūga, there is no option to run like you had last time." He said in reference to when he sensed Neji's energy hovering around him, but he never acted on it.

The two walked out to the center and Neji narrowed his eyes while looking at 19, "I of all people understand that its fate that has brought us here together for this fight." He got into his Jyuken stance and 19 got into his own fighting position. Everyone in the room could feel the tension between the two genin, and they were both radiating an immense amount of killing intent before the proctor even started the match.

"So much bad blood, do those two know each other?" Shikamaru looked to one of his Konoha natives for an answer.

"Yes, after what happened to Hinata-san in the Forest of Death, Neji has wanted to correct the un-youthful actions of the Otogakure faithful," Lee remembered seeing how bad Team 8 looked after fighting the trio from Otogakure. He would have felt the same way if he entered the ring with 19, since no one hurt his comrades and got away with it. At least now, Neji could get his proper revenge.

Gai had his arms folded over one another and turned his head to look at his student with a raised brow, "What exactly happened to Hinata?"

"We found her with her eyes ripped out of her sockets and drained of all her chakra," Ten-Ten remembered the horrible sight as well and cringed just thinking about it. "Kiba and Shino had their asses handed to them too, but Hinata caught the worst of it. According to Kiba, the 19 guy was the one she fought. We tracked them down to fight, but at the last minute Neji turned away." It was very uncharacteristic of Neji to turn away, so the last bit of info surprised Gai.

K was listening in on the conversation, remembering the name Hinata from a previous Kumogakure escapade that had gone terribly wrong. Judging from the sound of it, someone achieved what Kumo failed miserably to do, and hadn't been caught. It was a smart move too, since there was no seal on the main branch members to destroy the Byakugan. He was now looking at the boy 19 as a person of interest.

Chi-Chi looked at the utter surprise that was in the Konoha native's faces, having been there as well to see what happened to Hinata, but she had no idea who did it. Her eyes turned to 19 with an arched brow.

"Begin!"

Neji instantly activated his Byakugan and looked over 19's chakra pathway system and his overall genetic makeup in general. He had to hide the surprise in his face, trying to remain stoic after seeing that his enemy's chakra reserves were bigger than the last time he had looked him over. His brow twitched when 19 had an amused grin across his face, "Is something funny?" He continued to exam 19 with a wary eye.

The 'all-seeing' eyes were locked on the pit of the boy's stomach. It was the focal point of his of all his chakra. It all circulated through the _thing_ resting inside his stomach, which he figured to be the source of his power. He'd seen it during his fight with Kabuto, when he absorbed chakra it took in the foreign energy and converted it usable chakra for 19 to utilize. There were other oddities about his body, like the mechanisms built into his arm that ejected bladed pikes, but that was somewhat normal in the world of shinobi to make bodily modifications.

"There's no way for you possibly beat me, I've seen the Jyuken already," 19 told him, in reference to his defeat of Hinata. Aforementioned bladed pikes slid out of his palms, the mechanism in his hands stretching out in size to accommodate the blades comfortably. He crossed them as he positioned himself to charge in at Neji, "Use what you saw wisely, because I'm fighting to win, Hyuga."

Neji had to dodge the first few initial stabs and dance around his strikes, all while coming up with a plan of action against the chubby genin. The fact that Hinata lost against him meant that he had gone against his fighting style before, just not as polished. Neji was in a different league, but he had to see for himself just what kind of defensive tactics 19 had against the legendary fighting style.

The Hyuga crouched down as a blade sailed over his head and shot forward into 19's bubble of space, stabbing his fingers into a few tenketsu in his abdomen, making the boy stumble backward. For a quick second, his eyes focused on the area he just struck to see what would happen, and smirked when the tenketsu remained closed and 19 actually grasped at his stomach in pain. Neji beckoned him forward with a simple hand motion, "Your ability to absorb chakra is next to useless without you establishing contact with me through your hands. I assume that you already know that by the way you're approaching this, I've seen your ability first hand."

19 stayed silent while Neji went on in his explanation, "You can't directly absorb chakra like most think, your actual chakra has to enter a target's body, and you forcefully pull it out with your own, which is why you stick to your enemy's skin with your chakra to establish that connection." Neji smirked at the slight unease in 19's face after being figured out, and his ability broadcasted to the entire room. "By use of the Jyuken style, I'm able to use my chakra to close your tenketsu, and thus negate your ability to absorb chakra by pushing yours out of my system, or stop it before it gets the chance to enter. It was Hinata's destiny to pave my way to victory, and for that I am grateful."

"A beautiful analysis, Hyuga," 19's plan wasn't ruined though. He still had too many tricks up his sleeve to be deterred by Neji's genius. He ignored the numbing pain in his stomach and charged back in at Neji. 19 stabbed at Neji's eyes and the boy guided the artificial human's arm away with his own, but still managed to be grazed on his cheek by the blade. Blood dripped down the side of his face and they were at a stalemate once more.

Any wrong move and Neji could have his face sliced open by 19's blades. The very arm he parried the blade with was now dripping blood as well, and his palm of his other hand was freely dripping blood too since he used his other limb to do the same. He knew 19 was trying to target his eyes and take him out of commission, and he couldn't let fate repeat what had happened to Hinata.

The power struggle was evident as the two tried to gain footing on the other. Blood continued to flow down the length of the blades, and Neji knew he couldn't keep this up any longer lest he wanted deep cuts in his cheek, arm, and hand. With one vicious spin, Neji released chakra from all of his tenketsu that caught 19 and sent him smashing into the other side of the arena, creating a hole in the wall.

A small cloud of smoke and debris came from the wall and everyone's vision was obscured for a moment, save for Neji. He didn't have time to look over his wounds, simply preparing for the next inevitable bout between him and 19. The boy knew that his defense wouldn't be enough to stop the Otogakure native. Through the smoke, he saw 19 climbing out of the hole with a pained expression, and suddenly had to roll out of the way of a bladed pike shooting past his head and stabbing into the opposite wall.

Neji furrowed his brow when another one shot out from 19's direction and he dodged that as well. From what he could see, 19's back was gravely injured, and there were _cracks_ in his spine after being sent away from the repulsive force he created, yet the boy was slowly coming to a stand. In that moment, he noticed that the flow of chakra was changing, instead of him feeding the _thing_ in his stomach chakra, it was starting to feed it to him, and he couldn't hold back his gasp when he saw 19's spine repairing itself.

He had to act fast.

The Hyuga ran in as the smoke began to settle to deliver a finishing blow before 19's spine reconstructed and he was actually able to move. 19's eyes widened in surprise once he realized what the Hyuga boy was up to, remembering that Neji could see his injuries and held his hand out in the boy's direction. His other arm was being used as support for his body before he could fully stand.

From the mechanism in his palm, it opened wider, and shot out a supersonic wave of wind that sent Neji flying across the arena and smashing against the wall, 19 not letting up the wave even as came to his two feet, spine being repaired. He lifted his other hand and added an even more terrifying level to his already powerful attack, and everyone watched in awe/horror as Neji's body was being crushed under the pressure of the wind. He started moving forward to continue his onslaught.

"NEJI!" Rock Lee yelled out, literally about to jump into the arena until Gai grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

"Lee, believe in your teammate," Gai said as he continued to watch what 19 was capable of.

Lee wanted to say something else, but he had to trust Gai, as well as believe in his teammate. His eyes slowly shifted back to the match, it getting harder to watch as time went on.

Neji's body was contorting in ways that shouldn't have been possible, and multiple limbs were either dislocated or flat out broken after being smashed under the pressure of the air. When 19 was standing before him, he let his hands fall to his side and Neji dropped to the ground like a bug that had just been smashed against a window. The chubby genin crouched down and smirked at his downed enemy, "Don't think my powers are limited to what you have seen. Remember that I am still a shinobi of Otogakure."

The Hyuga's body twitched horribly after being crushed and he coughed up a decent amount of blood. Surely 19's jutsu did some internal damage and he had stopped just short of completely crushing his insides. He couldn't even bring himself to respond and he instantly fell unconscious, the proctor calling the match promptly after.

"Winner: 19!"

The chubby genin calmly returned to the stands to join his team, getting a few surprised, afraid, and vengeful glances from the entire lot of genin. He didn't want to reveal any more of his techniques during the preliminaries, wanting to showcase his more 'extraordinary' techniques during the finals, but Neji pushed him to that point. He expected as much, based off of the information he had, and had he been quicker to finish him off; he just might have won.

Gai went to join his battered student, and Ten-Ten followed after him. Seeing the genius of their team crushed like an annoying fly wasn't something they ever expected, and they helped him onto the stretcher so they could join him in the medical bay. Ten-Ten looked up at 19 with eyes full of hate as her teammate was carried off, and he sent her a stoic expression in return.

19's head turned when Rock Lee was now standing in front of him, how he got there without him noticing was almost concerning, "I wish to do battle with you in the final round. It will be the ultimate test of youth, so I can avenge my teammate. I look forward to it." He bowed respectfully and returned to his spot amongst the Konoha genin

"Seems like you made a new friend, 19," Lapis poked at the boy's fat belly and bust out laughing. "I'm surprised you won, after seeing how hard you smashed into the wall, I thought your back was broken."

"It was," 19 seemed disturbed by the fact as well, "but somehow it fixed itself."

The man standing in as their sensei patted him on the head, "That's because you're _gifted_."

Before 19 could pry information out from the man, names appeared on the screen.

 _Vegeta v. Lazuli_

"Oooh, sis, you're up," Lapis patted the blonde haired girl on her back and she rolled her eyes. "Knock him dead."

Vegeta walked past with a smirk, "Hmph, good luck with that, girl."

The two entered the center of the arena, having to hop over the newly created crated from Neji and 19's fight and wait for the proctor to start the match. They locked eyes, Vegeta's radiating confidence, since he didn't believe a girl had a snowball's chance in hell at defeating him, while Lazuli quite simply wanted to rip his head off. She could feel him underestimating her, and that had to be her biggest pet peeve.

"Don't get too cocky, Vegeta," The girl said as she folded her arms over each other and smirked at the Prince of all saiyans who was stretching in anticipation of the fight.

"Begin!"

 **XxX**


	36. Gemstones

**Gemstones** ~ **36**

The two genin disappeared in a blur and only trained eyes could see Vegeta and Lazuli exchanging blows about the arena. Vegeta threw a kick that Lazuli caught and twisted her body while in the air, tossing him across the ground. He recovered instantly and ran back in at the girl, but she skillfully avoided his advances, and swept him off his feet with a kick that made him fall to the ground. Lazuli placed her foot on the small of his back and tried to press down, but a tail suddenly shot out from his back and wrapped around her ankle.

Vegeta was able to roll back onto his feet and use the strength of his tail to throw Lazuli across the arena. Everyone in attendance was in awe after they saw Vegeta's tail swinging angrily, "Is that a kekkei genkai?" Lee turned to his sensei for answers.

"Not one that I've ever seen, Lee, but I must say our monkey-like friend is very talented!" Gai held a thumbs up to Vegeta.

"The girl is pretty fast too," Goku said in admiration. Before Vegeta grabbed onto her with his tail, which was wrapped around his waist; she was holding her own pretty well. Even now, she was getting up without a problem, "How does a girl get that strong?"

All of the kunoichi present turned and stared at Goku with a glare, "We're not all damsels in distress you idiot." Ten-ten had to fight back the urge to whack Goku on his head, but continued to watch the fight instead.

Lazuli looked unscathed, unbothered, and a tiny bit unimpressed. She strolled back toward Vegeta with a smirk on her face, "Is that all you've got?" The girl taunted as braced herself for another exchange. She brandished a kunai in anticipation, "You might be strong, but I'm stronger." Lazuli boasted and got an irritated growl from Vegeta.

"If you think a mere human girl can even come close to what I'm capable of, I must say, I would love to se—" A foot was planted in Vegeta's chest quicker than he could process and he was sent tumbling across the arena once more. His body stopped once it hit the wall and he felt pain all throughout his body. She was reinjuring all the things he spent days stitching back together and recovering. If he continued to play around with her, he could very well end up hurting himself more than she ever would.

Something was bothering him though, and he was trying to figure out how she was so damn fast. Even he wasn't that fast when he was moving without restraint. Vegeta groggily got up from the ground and narrowly avoided a kunai that stabbed into the ground right where he was standing. He leapt off to the side and watched as Lazuli speed towards him. Vegeta squinted his eyes and saw a light trail of electricity after her every movement.

She threw her fist forward, and in a split second Vegeta moved his head to the side to avoid being clobbered right in the face. Right now was a moment for analysis. He knew for a fact that no human girl was fast enough to keep up with him at full speed, or strong enough to match his blows, so something had to be going on. Vegeta ended up taking a kick to his side, but he wasn't shaken by it as he jumped away from her once more.

Whenever they made contact, it was like a shock was sent through his system. He linked that with the trails of electricity and actually started getting somewhere. Whatever lightning chakra she was using was augmenting her abilities. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she disappeared from his immediate line of vision and appeared behind him, hitting him in his back with an open palm strike that sent him rolling across the ground.

Lazuli had a smirk on her face the entire time, "You're the same kid that beat the Ichibi all by himself?" Whenever Vegeta was down, she'd try to hit him with a kunai, but he was always quick to recover. The boy took the air, deciding to use the higher ground for the moment. Obviously fighting Lazuli on the ground wouldn't end well for him, "You seem scared, Vegeta!"

"Me? Scared? Please," Vegeta's hands began to illuminate and he instantly started shooting out blasts of ki that she was quick to dodge. Lazuli was running at high speeds, but the trail of electricity she left behind every time she moved was giving away her location. As she moved in a zig-zag pattern, he predicted her movements and shot one big blast that sent her flying in the opposite direction. Before she could be completely blown away though, she threw another kunai knife that Vegeta easily dodged. "Where's all that bark at now, girl?"

Lazuli emerged from the smoke with a few scratches on her, but for the most part she looked fine. Vegeta had to hide his surprise, thinking he had blown her face off or something of the like. She had a lot of shuriken in both of her hands, and Vegeta simply laughed. Did she really think something as trivial as throwing stars would down him?

The blonde had to take to the defensive once more when Vegeta resumed his seemingly unlimited volley of ki blasts in her direction, rolling across the ground and then sticking to the wall. Vegeta didn't stop and a blast nearly sent her flying through the wall like 19 in his fight, running up the length and then leaping off trying to meet Vegeta in the air.

She threw her shuriken and Vegeta knocked a few out of the sky with his hand, and the others haphazardly stabbed into the roof, while she herself was left open to Vegeta's large ki blast that connected with her stomach and sent her crashing back to the ground.

The girl hit the ground with a thud and Vegeta finally saw the hurt facial expression on her instead of the cocky smirk she wore for the duration of their fight. Since she was downed he decided to follow up with another volley of blasts that started to cloud up the room, and once he felt it was overkill he let up. The smoke still hadn't settled, but he could see the proctor from where he floated, "Okay, call the match, she's done."

The proctor couldn't see through the smoke, and until then he couldn't make any official calls. Although from everyone's point of view, it did look like Vegeta just turned the poor girl into a smear on the Earth.

"Such power," Pepper's eyes broke away from the fight when he heard Konan say the first words she had said to them since the start of the matches. The blue haired woman was normally reserved, and she stayed true to that role, "To think these are only teenagers."

The freckle-faced boy crinkled his nose, "I'm a teenager and I could wipe the floor with a lot of shinobi around the world." He almost felt offended that Konan didn't acknowledge his abilities, but anything associated with Deidara probably had an asterisk next to it. "So you're finally talking?"

"No," Konan shut her eyes for a moment, "I'm only here to see our Akatsuki recruits up close. I was hoping to see you go against someone like Vegeta or his brother, maybe even Son Goku."

Pepper rolled his eyes and looked back to the arena, "I think these Otogakure kids are more interesting than anything." He remembered what he and his team had learned in Hoseki, "I know Kakuzu told you about the gemstones of Kaminari no Kuni, right?"

"I've heard of them," Konan said simply.

"There's one right there, they were actually just bio-engineered kids that were supposed to be super soldiers. Brain of a tactical genius and the cells donated from the strongest living shinobi in lightning country's history," Pepper deduced from what Hashi told him, as well as what Bali and Deidara had learned. "That's probably why she has such strong lightning affinity, and with the mind of genius, it's going to be easy to manipulate that chakra to fit her needs."

"Interesting," was all Konan said.

When Lazuli still hadn't gotten up off of the ground, Vegeta pointed at the girl, "This match is over!"

"Oh it's not over," Lazuli said with a smirk as she stood up off of the ground with ease, the only thing ruined was her clothing, and a few scars on her torso. She started to go through hand seals and Vegeta gnashed his teeth together, trying to fly right at her, but the moment he was about to crash into her and pummel her with strikes to her face; he was repelled by an invisible force.

He was sent flying back to the air and he twisted his body to regain composure, looking down on Lazuli with hateful eyes, "And what's this sad excuse for a technique called?"

Electricity started to crackle all around him, and he could see lightning chakra bouncing from all the projectiles and knives she threw to form a barrier around him, and she was safely outside of it. She wasn't throwing them with the intention to hit him, she had the damn thing planned out from the beginning. All of the weapons were scattered about to be used as mediums and trap him within the confines of the barrier, "Good job, you trapped me, but what now?"

Lazuli shrugged, "I don't know, maybe I'll end the match, or maybe I'll make you suffer?"

 **XxX**

(Hi no Kuni)

"Why did we agree to this trip?"

"I don't know, dobe," Sasuke was currently holding a rubber ball in his hand, while Naruto was still trying to swish around water inside a water balloon and make it pop. Jiraiya would assign them with impossible tasks every couple of days while he went and scavenged the town looking for female friends. "Just hurry up and pop that balloon."

"Not everybody has copy cat eyes to see how things work," Naruto said with a frustrated expression on his face trying his hardest to pop the balloon. He had been at it for a few days, getting even more irritated when Sasuke had figured out the trick the first day and refused to tell him how to do it. He was at least slightly satisfied when it wasn't as easy to pop the rubber ball, and Sasuke claimed he was waiting on Naruto to catch up before he did it. "Just tell me how to do it, teme!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Sasuke asked with a smirk and refocused on popping the rubber ball with his chakra. As the two of them sat on the floor of the grassy lawn, there was a small wooden hut across from them, and inside was Jiraiya trying to court some unlucky woman he had picked up in the town the night before. His eyes narrowed on the ball, but immediately got distracted when a drunk lady came stumbling out of the hut.

"I na-norma-normally dontsa do this, Jeeraiya," She was wearing an extremely short skirt and an open blouse, barely being able to walk out of the hut. The white-haired sage came out after her with tears streaming from his eyes, "But someone needsta teach ya how to treat a lady, okay?" The drunk woman stopped before Sasuke and took the rubber ball out of his hand. She held it up to the sky, "And imma takin' tis wit me as a cons… conso… constellation prize, okay!?"

She started to storm off and Jiraiya was running out of the house with his pants around his ankles, "Wait, baby, come back!" He pouted, tears still streaming from his eyes and his grabby hands trying to pull her back. "I need you in my life; every great sage has a great woman behind him!"

"Oh really… whatsma name Joeraiya!?"

Jiraiya stared at her blankly, "Um…"

"Imma leaving!"

Just like that, the woman was gone and Naruto and Sasuke were stuck looking at their temporary sensei with his pants down, "Care to explain, ero-sennin?" Naruto asked with a raised brow. "Will it take longer for me to pop this balloon or Jiraiya to get laid, find out next time on d—" Jiraiya hit Naruto with a rubber ball. "Ow, what the hell was that for?"

"That's for Sasuke," Jiraiya pulled his pants up and sat down on the ground. He folded his arms and let the moment of him being rejected by another woman pass, "You need to catch up to the Uchiha, gaki, or you're gonna get left behind." Sasuke chuckled at the praise, "And Uchiha, you need to stop acting like a pansy and pop the damn ball before Naruto catches up with you and shows you how a real man does it."

Sasuke's scowl returned and now Naruto was smiling, and at that moment Naruto's balloon popped and water splattered everywhere, "Oh yeah!" Jiraiya hit Sasuke in the face with a rubber ball. "Time to stop pretending and get to work, Uchiha gaki, the knucklehead is on your ass officially. Last one to pop the ball gets to carry everyone's stuff to the next town." Both of the children were nursing newly minted bruises that came from being hit with a rubber ball. "Let's get started."

"At least give us a proper explanation on how to pop the ball, Jiraiya," Sasuke said with a frown. He had been staring at the rubber ball for an entire day.

"Eh, where's the fun in that?" Jiraiya said as he got up off of the ground and returned to the shack while scratching his ass. He had a long day ahead of him, "I'm going to head to town to find something for us to munch on, you kiddies stay put and focus on popping your little rubber friend."

"Please, you're going to look for more women," Naruto accused and Jiraiya turned around in the doorway.

"You know me too well, gaki," Jiraiya grinned and then went to find the rest of his clothes.

At least he was honest.

 **XxX**

(Chuunin Exams)

Vegeta's eyebrows wrinkled while looking at Lazuli. She held her hands on the last seal and he didn't know what to anticipate. His eyes shifted around within the barrier and saw small crackles of electricity. 'Shit,' he could tell it was starting to build up. There was a lot of electricity within the barrier, and he already knew what she had planned. It was now a matter of how to avoid it. "Well, go on, we're all waiting for the grand finale," he provoked her, and smiled when nothing happened after a few seconds.

"Taunting me isn't going to make this any better for you," Her fingers still held on the last seal, she was still circulating chakra into her technique. Lazuli grinned, "Why don't you go ahead and try to move, Vegeta, I know you want to." Of course, the boy stayed still. At least he was smart, "Now we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way, Vegeta, which one do you choose?"

"Throw your worst, child."

ZAP.

Vegeta was thrown back by suddenly being shocked, and with every movement he was zapped repeatedly. He finally came to a stand still after being shocked multiple times and had to hold himself back from lunging right at her, because the entire barrier was an electric field that she had filled to the brim with lightning chakra. Any wrong move he would be electrocuted.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Lazuli asked with the smirk still on her face, "If you surrender right now, I'll let the barrier down, and you'll leave without anymore injuries."

"And if I don't?"

ZAP.

Okay, point taken. Vegeta wasn't going to surrender though, that was for damn sure. He tried to move his hand to nurse the new burn wound on his arm, but he was shocked once more, "You'll regret this girl!" Another shock was sent through Vegeta's system and he was thrown back violently, smashing into the wall of the electric barrier, and got another violent shock for his troubles. He started to fall to the ground, but stopped himself just short of the floor, deciding to remain floating. "Is the best you can do?" Vegeta's voice was shaky and he had electric burns all over his body.

Lazuli shook her head as she flew through hand seals and finally finished the string, as the electricity started to attack him from all directions, and spectators couldn't even see through the chakra produced light show. Saiyan or not, Vegeta wouldn't be leaving that without heavy injury, and when the light cleared, the barrier fell, only to reveal a smoking Vegeta who looked like he had literally been struck by lightning.

The proctor knew he wouldn't be getting up from that, "Winner: Lazuli!"

There were a few surprised gasps, but it was mostly overshadowed by Lapis and Raditz laughing at Vegeta's misfortune. A team of medics came in and carried the unconscious boy off to the medical bay, while Lazuli strolled casually back into the stands, and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. She smiled at her brother, "I told him not to be cocky, but that's his fault."

"Hm," K looked at Lazuli and then back to Goku. "An outdated Kumogakure barrier technique, perhaps what that child said is true."

"What's true?" Goku asked with an arched brow.

"In the past, there were rumors of Kumogakure funding a project to make super soldiers, and some of our village's best donated blood samples among other things," K explained and Goku went wide eyed. "Don't be foolish, Goku, no shinobi is innocent."

All villages would do whatever they could to get a possible advantage, and theirs just happened to be putting money into the pockets of a mad scientist in hopes of creating a generation of unstoppable shinobi. To K, it was just another day in the life.

Dr. Gero could never show his face in Kumo again after he tried to bring Orochimaru into the picture, but that was another story for another time. Names started to flitter across the screen and the next match was already being announced.

 _Chi-Chi v. Pepper_

Chi-Chi jumped up happily and went down to the arena, while Pepper was suddenly pulled back by N. The former Kumo native whispered something in his ear and he walked off afterward. Damn kid. He met Chi-Chi along with the proctor in the middle of the arena and he sized her up. He could tell by her stance that she was a melee fighter.

"Begin!"

This was one of the few matches that were decided by a split second. Chi-Chi ran in with her fist cocked back, while Pepper tried to grab onto her face. What he wasn't expecting was the girl to be as strong as she was. Her fist connected with his face, while he managed to seep some of his explosive chakra into her skin and they were both met with a painful reaction. Pepper was sent smashing into the wall, and something began to bubble under the surface of Chi-Chi's left cheek.

His intrusive chakra exploded and blood splattered all around her. Her cheek had been blown off and everyone present could see the inner workings of her face, as he jaw fell at nearly having her face destroyed. Her brain was rattled for a moment after having that kind of explosive chakra inside her body, and it felt weird being able to feel the inside of her face exposed to air.

Pepper felt like he was going to need facial reconstruction after the hit he just took from Chi-Chi and he was struggling to stand up after being hit with such a concussive force. How she packed that much energy into one punch was beyond him, and he only heard of that sort of strength with Tsunade Senju from Konoha, and that definitely wasn't her standing before him. It was a girl named Chi-Chi, "Hell no, I quit."

"Winner: Chi-Chi!"

The girl was shocked after getting her victory so easily, "What?"

If Pepper had learned anything during his time working under Deidara and Bali, more so Bali, was when to pick your battles. He knew when he was at a disadvantage, and this was one of those times. A regular melee fighter was no problem, but he saw her ability when she punched him. It was just like him and N's ability. She focused her chakra to one focal point and made it explode when it made contact with her target.

"I'm a killer not a fighter," Pepper said as he jogged happily back to the stands, and instantly sat down against the wall. He could see Chi-Chi was still confused, "Trust me, there's a difference. Just think about it, I could have blown your head off from the first move I made, but I'm not a fan of senseless bloodshed." There was no way for him to really fight her using his abilities without her losing something valuable, and N threatened him not to seriously injure her before the match started.

"Right.." Chi-Chi came back to the stands and more names appeared on the screen.

 _Uzumaki Karin_ v. _Rock Lee_

"FINALLY, IT IS TIME TO SHOW MY ABILITIES OFF TO THE WORLD!" Rock Lee front flipped from the stands and landed perfectly in the arena; while Karin nervously walked down to meet him in the center. He bowed respectfully once she entered the ring, "WHILE YOU ARE A MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, I MUST RESPECT YOUR ABILITIES AS A CAPABLE KUNOICHI AND TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY."

"Damn right, Lee!" Ten-Ten cheered.

Karin couldn't fight back her childish blush at being called beautiful, but she was supposed to getting into a fight soon, "Okay, I respect that." She actually wished he'd take it easy on her, since she was far from a fighter, and from the things he said; to the way he literally flipped into the arena she could tell he trained a lot. Karin looked her equipment over and nearly shrieked when the proctor yelled begin.

Lee charged in faster than she could even blink, and she had to plan of action to deal with someone as quick as him. The girl reached into her equipment pouch and threw a smoke bomb on the ground before he got a chance to punch her in the face, and rolled out of the way. Smoke started erupting from the bomb and filling the whole area. Karin took that as her chance to cut and run, but she could feel Lee weaving through the smoke with ease and trying to zero in on her location.

She reached for another pellet inside her pack and when he was in range once more, she threw the compressed ball of powder in his face and it smashed against his head. There was a small 'poof' and the purple-ish looking powder exploded in his face, and his vision was destroyed for a second, but he still managed to punch Karin in her chest and send her flying out the cloud of smoke, and now poison that was filling the area.

Since he was hit with it at point blank range, the powder that he inhaled was attacking his system faster than it normally would have. He suddenly felt groggy and if kept standing still he would pass out, "POISON!? HOW UNYOUTHFUL!" He exploded out of the plume of smoke and found Karin regaining her bearings and he flipped in the air, bringing his foot down and smashing it against her head. She went limp after the kick, and after overloading his system with adrenaline for a knockout; he had to support himself to stand against the wall.

"Winner: Rock Lee!"

The bowl-cut genin held a thumb up to his sensei and flashed a toothy grin, but instantly fell to the ground once the poison started fully working on his system.

Medics swarmed the floor and carried both of them out to the medical bay. With all of Gai's team having fought already, they left to see their teammates in the other part of the facility.

"Eh, she knew she was going to lose," N batted an eyelid at Karin's actions.

 _N v. Lapis_

All of the Kumo natives, Otogakure faithful, and Akatsuki members present turned to look at N with a curious glance. He pulled on his drawstrings and walked out to the center. "I guess I can't hide any longer," He said as Lapis leapt down and landed perfectly. "I take it you're Lapis, you know, you're the reason I'm in this whole mess?"

"How unfortunate," Lapis said sarcastically while he stretched out.

"Begin!"

N caught Lapis off guard and shot a blast of explosive chakra that crashed into his chest and sent him tumbling across the ground. The blonde rolled his neck as he charged in, not wanting to test how durable these damn gemstones really were. He started forming his next blast between his hands, and tried to jump up and blast him deeper into the ground, but Lapis rolled out of the way. The same trail of electricity that Lazuli had when she moved was present with her brother.

The blonde Akatsuki recruit ended up creating a deep crater in the ground where Lapis once was and he was irritated to see that there was barely a scratch on his body. N was even more irritated when with a flash; Lapis appeared at his side and punted him across the room. Lightning sparked underneath Lapis' feet and he was literally riding a current of electricity through the air toward him.

These Oto-genin were really something else. N rolled to a stand and had to surprise the crowd just as much as Lapis did. He jumped into the air and created an explosive bubble under his foot that allowed him to jump higher and kept doing so until it looked like he was running on air. The two were circling each other, shooting explosive blasts/shots of lightning at each other that they were narrowly avoiding, "Oh yeah, this is fun!" Lapis yelled out in excitement and N furrowed his brow.

How the hell could anyone call this fun? Dodging lightning bolts that could fry your nerve system was no where near fun. N had to constantly keep moving or else he would fall to the floor, so he tried to gain the higher ground on his black haired enemy. N formed a cone shaped blast of explosive energy that shot the boy who was riding a bolt of lightning to the ground with a massive crash, and he let himself fall gracefully back to the floor of the arena.

His whole game plan was to get Lapis on the ground and keep him there. After seeing Vegeta fail at doing so, he started wondering just how possible that was. Every time Lapis tried to get up off of the ground, he would shoot him back down with a blast of explosive chakra, and the Otogakure boy was sent farther and farther away with each blast, "Dude, just stay down!"

Lapis looked terrible, but he still rolled out of the way once N's assault got tired, and came to a full stand. A maniac grin was plastered on his face and N growled lowly, "No can do, Akatsuki-kun! I'm having too much fun with you right no—" N formed enough of his explosive chakra that it was visible to at least Lapis, and it took the shape of a sharp tendril. With the quickness that he shot it, there was no way to avoid it and it tore through his arm as he tried to hold it up to guard.

The black haired boy was sent flying and his head smashed against the wall. He fell over unconscious, and since he ran his mouth more about having fun than actually defending himself; the proctor called the match.

"Winner: N!"

N was breathing heavily and looked at his hands, which were steaming after firing off so many attacks. His chakra was exhausted to say the least, and he too collapsed on the ground after being declared the winner.

The medical team brought two stretchers and carried them off into the other room. Konan looked at Karin expectantly and the red-head girl scurried off after N to use her brand of healing to make his recovery smoother.

Shikamaru sighed deeply, and then outstretched his arms after realizing what was going on, "Fuck." He said in a dead silent room and then all heads turned to the screen for the last match.

 _Son Goku v. Nara Shikamaru_

"All right!" Goku punched his fist into his open palm and Shikamaru had a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. The very person he hoped he didn't have to fight, he was fighting. Vegeta was menacing, but he was a brute, and he could probably defeat him in a few seconds with a simple tactic, and the same went for Raditz. The kids from Oto were the same to a certain degree, save for 19, and Goku… this was going to be annoying.

A lot of the noble's kids were privy to the super weapons Iwa and Kumo had acquired in recent years, and while Vegeta and Raditz specialized in straight up destroying things with their power; Goku had some finesse to him. He was an actual ninja with a great amount of strength. Shinobi that crossed paths with Vegeta and Raditz out in the field reported back to Shikaku, and that information trickled down to his son, but info on Son Goku was largely unknown.

Most people just assumed he was as strong as Vegeta and Raditz, since he was mentioned among most circles as the 'super weapon from Kumo.' How they got that strong, Shikamaru didn't know, but he just knew not to take them lightly.

Goku bowed respectfully to Shikamaru, which confused the black haired Nara much to his chagrin, "My name is Son Goku, nice to meet you."

"KICK HIS ASS SHIKAMARU, HE'S A FUCKING RUNT!"

Ino had recovered just in time for his fight.

"Don't be foolish, Goku."

K had commentary as well.

"Remember what I taught you, Goku!"

Oh, wait, Roshi had something to say too.

"Eh, Shikamaru," the Nara offered lazily and crouched down once the proctor approached. Goku got into his fighting stance as the man walked up, "Hey, try to take it easy, I'm not really trying to waste too much energy here."

Goku raised a brow, "What?"

"Begin!"

The moment the match begun, Goku leapt away from Shikamaru, and he was smart to do so because the boy's shadow was chasing after him the moment the proctor opened his lips. He flipped backwards and kept doing so until he eventually stuck to the wall and looked down to see that Shikamaru's shadow could only travel so far. Goku grinned, now gathering his chakra while he had an advantage and shot out for balls of fire in Shikamaru's direction.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck," Shikamaru thought he was mumbling to himself, but he couldn't hold his thoughts inside his brain at the moment. He ran out of the way the fire balls and looked at the wall they crashed into, seeing that they left sizable burn marks, 'how much chakra does this kid have to waste?' Goku had made those appear like they were nothing and he didn't look exhausted at all. His reserves had to be crazy.

Now that Goku had seen his original plan of trapping him with his shadow, he had to come up with something else. He knew Goku would never stay still once he got near him, and the boy was way too fast to actually be caught while moving. Why couldn't he fight someone like Karin? The universe always liked throwing curve balls at him, "Stay still, why don't you?"

The moment it seemed like Shikamaru was trying to close in on him, Goku moved. Goku leapt from his position on the wall right toward Shikamaru with his fist extended. Not falling for something as simple as that, the Nara slid out of the way, but Goku kept his window of opportunities short and shot right back up at Shikamaru. A quick punch to the face stunned Shikamaru, but he was fast enough to regain his bearings to parry the series of punches and kicks that followed.

Shikamaru's defense was starting to wear down and a punch to the chest landed and sent him stumbling backwards. Goku ran in for a follow up, jumping into the air, and kicking Shikamaru to the ground with a flying kick. The Nara tumbled across the floor and he could already see Goku moving in for another attack. This kid just didn't give up did he? Direct combat wasn't exactly Shikamaru's specialty, and the good folks over at Team Asuma were actually quite well versed in the art of running away.

It was preferred actually. But with a big open space as your battle field, there was no where to really run away to like actual environments offered. Goku jumped into the air and laced his fingers together so he could smash his joined hands on Shikamaru's head, but the pony-tail wearing genin caught Goku's forearm before he could do so, but he was struggling to fight against Goku's strength, "Come on, Shikamaru, just let me hit you!"

"I can give you a million reasons why I don't want that to happen," Goku eventually overpowered him and shifted his hammer-like strike to a regular punch to the face that connected. With him being this close, his body being pinned under Goku's; there was no way to establish any connection between their shadows. Goku was annoyingly strong too and there was no way he could get him off, "Yo I-"

"Don't you quit on me, Shikamaru!" Ino yelled from the stands.

"Forfeit," Shikamaru had no problem saying and the proctor called the match.

"Winner: Son Goku!"

Goku got off Shikamaru and helped him off of the ground, "That was fun!"

"Sure, if that's what you call fun," Shikamaru waved it off and returned to the stands. Much like Pepper, he knew when to pick his battles. Goku knew how to outmaneuver his shadows and was flat out stronger and quicker than he was. There was no sense in him wasting energy on a lost cause. He didn't even want to be a Chuunin anyway, doing D-ranks all day and never leaving Konoha sounded way better than actually sticking his neck out for the village.

Goku was laughing as he was walking behind Shikamaru, "Ha! I made you say uncle! I'm your uncle Shikamaru!"

Why the hell did this kid like him so much?

 **XxX**

Everyone was allowed to leave now that the final matches had been decided.

 _Son Goku v. 19_

 _Raditz v. N_

 _Ten-Ten v. Lazuli_

 _Chi-Chi v. Rock Lee_

Goku was stuck staring at the board, while his entire team were in the background waiting for him. He had to fight the weird kid who could break his back and still shake it off like it was nothing. His skin was crawling, but not in fear, but in excitement. He was straight up stronger than Shikamaru, but how would he deal with the fat kid from Otogakure? He had an entire month to figure it out.

K placed a hand on his shoulder, "Goku." The boy looked up to his teacher with a childish grin, "It's about time I gave you the proper training."

The saiyan's eyes lit up at the thought, "Oh what are you going to teach me!? The fire-fist thing, the wind-fist thing!?"

"Kaio-ken," K said simply and patted the boy on the head. "Let's go, we have much to do."

Oh yeah, this was going to be the best month of his life.

 **XxX**

 **The final arc of the Chuunin exam that I've been itching to write since I thought of this story is coming up next. I have a bunch of crazy shit in store, and you'll see why I do things the way I do. It'll all make sense soon my babies, so just stayed aboard for the ride.**

 **PS: I decided to take a stroll through the DBZ & Naruto XOVER section and saw that someone was generous to steal my opening scene for Son Goku word for word, and that made me feel good. My story is good enough to steal, mom!**


	37. Training Days

**37**

"Goku's its time to wake up."

One eyelid cracked open and Son Goku wasn't greeted by the morning sun, no it was completely black outside. It got even darker once K blocked his view by stepping over and standing tall in front of the couch he was sleeping on. The boy rubbed at his eyes and started to slowly sit up, "What time is it?"

"It's three o'clock in the morning."

Goku didn't get a chance to take the cover off slowly like he wanted; instead K yanked it off and threw a fresh set of clothes in his face. The saiyan boy caught them fast enough that he wasn't hit with the surprise weights that were mixed in with his new training gear. It was a green gi with an orange belt, and a pair of brown boots that had the capsule corps insignia stitched into them. He looked at it with a raised brow, "Why green?"

"Bulma chose the colors," K informed his student and turned his back as said girl entered the room with bags under her eyes and a cup of tea. She was stirring it slowly as she quietly sat down on the bed and rolled her eyes at the Limitless K.

"I made the damn boots too, give me some credit, K," Bulma took a sip and nearly spit out the tea after realizing how hot it was. Her two younger roommates Mao and Chi-Chi stirred in their sleep, so she tried to remain quiet. "They're better than the ugly ass sandals everyone wears," The teenage girl crossed her legs and now took a satisfied sip from her tea as she continued to explain her genius. "They offer better support, protection, and durability than standard shinobi sandals. K I can make you a pair too, I'll just need some cash." Bulma held her hand out expectantly and K turned away from her.

"You'll be working out nonstop for the next two weeks," Goku had already changed into his new outfit, and was currently kicking the air to test out his new boots. K walked up to the window of the hotel room and opened it, letting in a cool breeze of the night air. His leg was already halfway out of the window when he said, "Be at the ninth training ground in thirty minutes. If you're late, you will have to do ten thousand push ups."

K leapt out of the window and disappeared from sight, while Goku was stuck with his jaw nearly touching the floor, "I don't even know where that is!" Goku ran across the room and leapt out of the window, but suddenly plummeted to the ground once he realized how much weight he had just added onto his body. He hit the ground with a thud, and the only sound that followed that was Bulma saying 'good luck Goku~' and then shutting the window.

Goku pushed himself off of the ground and groaned in pain, almost breaking his back after hitting the ground from the third floor of the hotel. K had woken him up at ungodly hours to train, added more weight than he could count to slow him down, and told he had thirty minutes to navigate through a village he had never been to before. What a way to start off training.

His head turned to the right when he heard voices getting louder as they approached.

"WAKING UP AT THREE IN THE MORNING TO RUN ONE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND KONOHA IS SUCH A YOUTHFUL IDEA GAI-SENSEI!"

"IF WE WAKE UP EARLIER, WE CAN ENGAGE IN MORE YOUTHFUL ACTIVITIES AND BECOME EVEN STRONGER THAN OUR ETERNAL RIVALS. MORE TIME SPENT WORKING IS TIME WELL SPENT," Gai shouted back to his ecstatic student.

"WE SHOULD WAKE UP AT TWO THEN, GAI-SENSEI!"

"SUCH A GREAT IDEA LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SEN-"

A voice cut into their youthful conversation, "Do either of you know where to find the ninth training ground?"

Both green clad men skidded to a halt and locked eyes with Son Goku, who was also wearing a green clad outfit, and any well trained shinobi could see weights on a fellow shinobis body. It was like they found their missing link, "YES, WE'RE ACTUALLY HEADED THERE RIGHT NOW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US IN OUR REMAINING FOURTY SEVEN LAPS IN OUR QUEST TO THE TRAINING GROUNDS?" Gai asked with a shining smile.

"Um…"

"YOU'RE RIGHT, WE WILL START OVER AND DO ALL ONE HUNDRED LAPS TOGETHER!" Rock Lee yelled out and pulled Goku into his embrace. Both men burst into tears of joy and suddenly took off running, with Goku still in tow.

Goku was almost dragged across the ground until he had no choice but to keep pace with the green juggernauts of Konoha. He didn't know his way around and they did. How long would a hundred laps around Konoha even take? It wasn't that big of village right?

Right?

 **XxX**

(5:00 AM – 9th Training Ground)

After running for two straight hours with Gai and Rock Lee around Konoha, they finally stopped on what was technically the 101st lap at the training ground. The sun was starting to come up, and Son Goku collapsed on the ground; right at the feet of his sensei. He was breathing heavily, while the Konoha duo were still standing tall with smiles on their faces.

"You're late," K stated flatly, "Ten thousand push ups."

"Bu-But!" Goku lifted his head up to see K glaring at him and rested his head back in the dirt.

"DON'T WORRY GOKU-KUN, THE FIRST ONE THOUSAND GO BY THE FASTEST!" Rock Lee dropped down to the ground held himself in a position to start working out until Goku was ready to begin, and Gai did the same.

"I enlisted some Konoha help to get you in shape," K said as he continued to glare at his student until the boy slowly got into a push up position. "I offered them money, but they said helping a fellow budding youth was all the compensation they needed." The black haired man turned from Goku and went to find a log to sit on top of, "You may begin."

"ONE!"

"TWO!"

"THREE!"

"FOUR!"

Gai and Rock Lee kept going back and forth while Goku continued to push himself up and down in silence. He was already exhausted and now he would be stuck doing this for the next few hours. Things started to seem blurry as the monotonous work out of ten thousand push ups dragged on and on and he could barely think straight. It felt like he was going for hours and it also seemed like Gai and Rock Lee were only getting louder as time went on.

"ONE HUNDRED!"

Wait, what? He had only done one hundred push ups? How long were they already working, and how long would this take?

"It's only been three minutes, Goku." K saw the distress in the boy's eyes and it nearly made him smile, but that would be out of character.

Rock Lee held the count, while Gai announced, "I THINK WE SHOULD PICK UP THE PACE. LET'S GO MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!"

K folded his arms over each other and watched in silent glee. This was going to be a great day.

 **XxX**

(Elsewhere In Konoha)

With no true place to call home, Jirou returned to the only place he did know in the village. There was now a great tree in a random training ground that stood tall over Konoha, and he was the one to create it. He walked up with his hands stuffed in his pockets and he quietly strolled up to the tree, and his eyes slowly shifted downward.

He had been released from the hospital and was left to roam the village until the council came up with a concrete plan for him. The boy knew he would probably be admitted into the academy before he knew it, so he would soak up the last free days he had left. His mind had been wandering, and some lingering feeling brought him back to this very field to figure something out.

His mind found some type of ease returning, but it was almost like he could hear voices in his head telling him to dig deeper, so dig he did. Jirou placed his hands on the tree and the wood started to shift and tear apart on its own after reacting to his chakra. A hole opened up and Jirou slowly stepped in, and lowered himself into it.

After all the boys that were abducted that night in Konoha were retrieved, the entry way that led to the hidden root base was covered once again by the base of the giant tree, and apparently only he could get back in. He was brought back to the night, being held in the tank along with Naruto and Sasuke, but he remembered it differently. There were a few different point of views he remembered it from.

As he entered the base, those memories began flooding back. His life used to be simple as an orphan in Konoha, and then an old man offered him a chance that no one else did; and that was have a family. In hindsight, Jirou realized that Shimura Danzo meant something completely different, but he wasn't lying to him. He grew up with no family to call his own, surname to identify with and possibly find relatives. It was only him.

The old man would always come and visit the orphanage for one reason or another, and finally he approached him. Danzo told an even younger Jirou that he could have family in every clan, all he had to do was follow him, and an eager orphan child would never turn that down. From that point on, he was adopted by the man and taken under his wing. For the last six years, he remembered nothing but emotional conditioning, gruesome training, and countless experiments that even a child would know to be inhumane.

Jirou's hand traced across the walls of the base in silence, but once he felt someone stalking behind him; he stopped, "Come out."

"I understand," Sai emerged from the shadows and surprisingly got down on one knee before Jirou. "It is nice to see you're in good health, Danzo-sama."

The younger boy turned around quickly to stare at Sai with hardened eyes, "I'm not Danzo." His blue eyes widened when he saw more people filtering into the hallway, taking a knee just like Sai had done. They were all bowing out of respect for him, but why? He gnashed his teeth together and backed away from all of the root ninja, "I'm not Danzo!" He yelled to clarify his earlier point. He turned around and ran down the hallway with tears streaming from his eyes.

The entire crowd of shinobi looked on in silence when Jirou suddenly buckled to the ground and held his hands on his head, the only noise in the hallway were his silent, muffled sobs. All members were conditioned to follow every order, and wouldn't dare speak out against their new leader. They would wait until he was stable and follow his command, whatever it may be.

' _The conditioning was no good._ '

' _This is no way to behave, Jirou._ '

' _Get yourself together, child._ '

'You _are the leader of root now_.'

"Get out of my head!" Jirou yelled and smashed his fist against the ground. He kept doing it repeatedly, the floor starting to crack under the pressure of his hits. Voices kept ringing through his head, and he couldn't tell if they were fresh memories, or literal people talking to him in real time. Either way, he didn't like it. He pushed himself off of the ground and continued to stumble forward.

"Danzo-sama," One of the root members called out and Jirou's head snapped in the person's direction. His eyes were full of emotions as he turned back around and charged down the hall, to the bowing platoon of Root members. "What are our orders?"

"Why do you keep calling me Danzo?" Jirou held back his tears, biting his lip as he did so. He was so confused, so now he just wanted answers, "Why do you think I'm the leader now?"

"Because, that's what _you_ told us," Sai spoke up and Jirou's skin crawled. "Danzo-sama did not die, you are Danzo."

Jirou stared at his hands with deep thought. He knew Sai wasn't lying, Sai _couldn't_ lie, but he still didn't want to believe him. Danzo was dead, he had been the one to kill him, and that was what he kept telling himself under his breath. Finally he shook his head off all the negative thoughts and looked over the platoon with a frown, "Your first order..." He bit his lip and looked at all the expressionless Root ninja waiting for him to continue, "Collect all the information on _Project Cell_ in this base and bring it to me."

All of the members disappeared into the shadows, save for one. Sai was still on his knee before Jirou, looking up slowly. His dark eyes meeting Jirou's blue orbs and there was a moment of silence. No words needed to be said; at least that's what Sai thought. Danzo had debriefed him of what would happen after Jirou was set free, and what his orders were. The rest of Root was the only ones who still needed instruction.

"You're still here, why?" Jirou asked with a furrowed brow.

"You know why, there's no use in pretending."

The boy groaned as he walked past Sai, "Follow me. We still have work to do." Sai slowly got up and walked behind his younger counterpart, "There's another person just like me out there, we need to find him." Jirou had this burning sensation in his body, like there was something missing from him, and he needed to fill it. He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling that said person would have the answers he needed.

Sai nodded his head, "And how do you plan to find this person, Dan-" Jirou's head turned and he looked at Sai sternly through the side of his eye, "Jirou-sama?"

"Project Cell, it has all the answers."

 **XxX**

(10:00 AM – 9th Training Ground)

"TEN THOUSAND!"

Goku dropped to the ground, breathing heavily, while the Green Beasts of Konoha jumped up and high fived each other. The blazing hot summer sun was fully shining on the field, the birds were chirping, and Rock Lee was yelling praises to his sensei for a job well done. For anyone else, this was a typical morning in Konoha, but Goku on the other hand had never been worked so hard in his life, even during his days training with Son Gohan. What made things worse was it was still the start of the day.

"What more do you need us to do, K-san?" Gai turned to look at the stoic man sitting on top of a log. "We have ten more exercises planned for Goku-kun we can start on!"

"That won't be necessary," K pushed himself off of the log and went to scramble the beyond tired child off of the ground. "We'll take a break for two hours and then return."

"VERY WELL THEN, WE WILL SEE YOU IN EXACTLY TWO HOURS!" Gai and Rock Lee took off back in the direction of the village, leaving Goku and K to their own devices.

Goku sat up and looked at K with a smile, "We're finally taking a break?"

"No."

The saiyan frowned a bit but eventually laughed at how exhausted he was, "Ok then, what's ne-"

A giant scroll dropped onto the ground and started unraveling itself. Goku looked up from the scroll to see K pointing a kunai to his face, "Take this, sign your name in blood." The man crouched down and pointed at where he wanted Goku to sign, and watched silently as Goku did so without asking him what was going on. Once the boy was done, he handed the kunai back to his sensei, "This is a summoning contract, it will be apart of your training."

"Oooh, what kind of animal will I be able to summon?" Goku suddenly jumped up with glee and looked between the contract and his sensei. "A Dragon, Panda, Gorilla, Shark!?"

"There will be no animals," K rolled up the scroll and it disappeared into a poof of smoke. Luckily Goku didn't even read anything on the scroll, so there would still be a mystery, and also an incentive. "You'll soon find out."

"I'm hungry, K-sensei," Goku leaned back on his hand and rubbed on his stomach with the other. His gut grumbled out loud right after to further prove his point, and he looked up to K with hopeful eyes. The boy grinned, "We need to get some food!"

"I suppose," K walked off and Goku got up to run after his sensei. The boy covered the ground he had put between them quickly, and he could see that Goku was getting used to the weights. Sometimes Goku didn't realize how truly talented he was, and he would use to his advantage. K led them back to the village that was just now starting to pick up. Shop owners and civilians were roaming the streets as they got their day started.

Goku's mouth was watering as they got closer to some restaurants that were just now opening their doors. His eyes shifted between barbecue joints, to the ramen bar, and all the other spots, but when his eyes returned to K's figure he was entering a secluded Smoothie Bar. Goku's stomach grumbled and he had no choice but to follow and nearly puked when his nose caught a whiff of the horrible smells inside of it.

The saiyan boy pinched his nose, "It smells terrible in here!"

"Nice to see you too, kid," A man with a wide grin on his face came from the back of the bar with a towel thrown over his shoulder. His clothes were off-white and heavily stained with different ingredients, and combined to make a disgusting personal odor. He clapped his hands together and laughed when he saw the stoic man standing before him, "Second time this week, welcome back, Genji!"

"My name is K," Goku's sensei corrected and looked to the menu. "Prepare two _special_ Kale smoothies." K ignored the simple mistake and turned to look at his distraught looking student. He shook his head as the owner of the bar walked off to make the smoothies for them, "Don't be foolish, Goku, you're on a diet." He went to sit down in one of the dirty chairs, unfazed by the poorly kept establishment.

"I thought we would eat something filling like ribs, chicken, you know?" Goku asked with a frown and groaned when K shut his eyes to tune his student out.

"After this, you won't want to eat," K told Goku as he waited.

The owner walked back out with two plastic cups that were overflowing with thick green liquid. He placed a lid on top of them to try and stuff the contents in and it started to spill down the sides of the cup. The man stabbed their straws through the lids and held them out to his two customers, "Here ya go, K! Have a good day, sorry for the mix up!"

"Dude, you're so weird."

Three teenagers entered the bar, one of them being Goku's opponent in the finals. 19 walked up to the counter while the twins lagged behind, "How many times are we going to come here, 19, these smoothies are disgusting." Lazuli complained to her teammate, not even noticing Goku in the vicinity.

"Great," Goku looked at the smoothie with a wrinkled brow as he fiddled with the straw to see how it looked.

"I'll have the cottage cheese smoothie with coconut oil and spinach," 19 ordered as the man walked off to make said smoothie.

"You're going to drink that?" Goku asked with a look of distaste on his face, not even bringing himself to sip on the smoothie he had forced into his hand.

"He's been doing all kinds of weird stuff lately," Lapis said as he sat down on the dirty seat and cupped his cheek in his hand. The boy grinned though, "I think he's gearing up to kick your ass though, so I won't say anything else about it."

"I've been training since three in the morning, I'm not losing," Goku said confidently.

19 turned away from the counter, "I will _not_ be going easy on you, boy."

"That's enough," K grabbed Goku by the collar and dragged him out of bar. He walked him to the end of the street and let go of him. "Drink."

Goku looked at the cup warily, but looked up to see K full-on glaring at him. The boy hastily placed his lips on the straw and his stomach turned as he gulped down the thick green smoothie. Disgusting was hardly the word to describe the blend of unknown ingredients, "Gah! You like this stuff?"

"No," K said simply as he tossed away his empty cup into a nearby trash can. "Finish."

The saiyan lifted up the lid and forced himself to drink the rest. With one more harsh swallow, he was done, and his sensei was right; he didn't want to eat anything else. As disgusting as it was, his body was starting to feel refreshed and energized. His taste buds on the other hand felt terrible, "What now?"

"Be back at the training field in an hour," K said as he disappeared in a crackle of electricity.

An hour break, just what he needed. Goku tossed the smoothie into the trashcan and watched in silence as the trio of Oto genin left the bar in the opposite direction of him. He took a deep breath and outstretched his arms as he exhaled. He knew the moment he stepped foot on that training field once more; it was time to get back to work.

Once the Oto genin were out of ear shot, and K was definitely out of sight, another newcomer made themselves known, "Goku." The saiyan boy turned around to see a tired looking blonde with heavy bags under his eyes. He had ditched the Akatsuki uniform and settled for a plain outfit to roam the village in.

"N," Goku said in awe when he realized he was finally talking to the 'rogue' genin from his graduating class.

"Dude, we need to talk."

 **XxX**

(Uchiha Compound)

The large man walked through the halls, his face covered by a shemagh. He wore a tan cloak, and had pointed green ears sticking through the top of his face cover. The green creature was getting closer to the low rumblings of conversation coming from another room. He slid the door open to see other men dressed similarly to him drinking tea and looking out the window at the abandoned compound.

"Drum, join us," One the men said, patting an open space next to him.

"Majunior, Tambourine, Piano," He bowed respectfully to his brother and sat down with them. Drum accepted the cup of tea offered to him by his family and quietly sipped, "I assume things are going well."

"Sentries are currently being planted around the village," Majunior said as he picked up a remote that was sitting on the tabletop. With a simple click of a button, the opposite facing wall separated and a screen came out of it. There were red dots moving across the screen, while some were stationary, "Thanks to Shimura, the Hokage's attention is split." He set the remote down and grinned.

"Silly human, has no idea his village is being infiltrated," Tambourine had wings protruding from his back, which was hard to hide. When it was time to enter the village, a simple henge would suffice, but he rarely needed to disguise himself. "I say we act sooner than later while we have the upper hand!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, the Hokage knows something is going on, he just doesn't know _what_." Majunior snapped at his brother as he pointed at the screen. "Everything will happen in due time, we still have a business to run. The shinobi won't think anything of us as long as we're their simple neighborhood drug dealer, and I'd like to keep it that way."

The door slid open and killed the argument that was brewing. Another cloaked member of their family came in dragging a fresh dead body, a trail of blood leaking from the body as he dropped the masked shinobi to the floor, "First of many." He said in a light hearted tone and smiled underneath his shemagh, "Shall I dispose of his body?"

"Yes, send someone back to take his place," Majunior shooed the subordinate away like an irritating dog. The body was dragged out of the room, "Be sure to clean up your mess too." He sipped away at his tea as if it would wipe away the sudden distaste in his mouth. The youngest member of the cartel looked up to the screen of sentries being set in place.

Piano's fingers drummed on the tabletop, smirking while he looked at his young counterpart, "Another inside source in Konoha's ANBU, eventually it will be ours."

"It was foolish to assume they wouldn't do routine scans of this compound," Majunior mumbled, "It's no coincidence though; they're definitely on to us."

"Are you suggesting we move?" Drum asked with a raised brow.

"No, just keep attention away from here for now. All I need is four more weeks," Majunior stated simply and stood up from the table.

"That's a long time; won't the Uchiha boy be back soon?" Piano asked with a hint of glee in his voice.

Majunior left his brother with some assuring words before he left the room, "It will all be over by the time he arrives."

 **XxX**

(Hi No Kuni)

Tights sat in the yard of a safe house watching Naruto and Sasuke try hard to pop the rubber balls given to them by Jiraiya. Said man had yet to make an appearance at the place he told her to meet him at. As of right now, she was playing baby sitter to two genin who she had never met before. They hardly needed watching, too focused on popping the ball to do much else.

After sitting in the same spot for hours, Tights finally opened her mouth, "Hey kids, where did you say your Jiraiya-sensei went?"

Sasuke merely grunted and Naruto barely looked up either.

"I'm talking to you!" Tights stood up and pouted as she approached the two teenagers, snatching the rubber balls out of their hands. Two simultaneous yells of annoyance made her grin, "Ready to answer me now?"

"Can I ride your mechanical bird thing?" Naruto pointed at the giant machine resting on the roof of the safe house.

Tights huffed and placed her hands on his hips, 'Nothing like your dad.' She dropped the rubber balls at the their feet, but before they could get their hands on them again; she snapped in their faces, "I'll let you ride it, sure, but only if you tell me where Jiraiya is." Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and then shrugged. Their child like curiosity influenced their decision, "Well?"

"You've got a deal, lady," Sasuke stood up and started walking toward the safe house. "He went into town this morning, said he was having brunch with an old lady friend."

"My name is Tights, kid," Tights turned to look at the giant mechanical bird and started digging in her pockets. "You can take turns, but you have to ride with me." The woman pulled out a remote and with a simple click the bird lifted its head and its red eyes came to life. She pointed at Naruto, "You asked first, so you get the first ride. Let's go, Naruto."

"You know my name?" He asked with an arched brow, but still ran excitedly and jumped onto the roof top.

"Yeah, and I know Sasuke," She jumped onto the roof as well. Both of them jumped onto the back of the bird and Tights pointed at the raven haired Uchiha, "You stay put until I get back. If Jiraiya returns, don't let that bastard go anywhere, okay?"

"Understood," Sasuke waved her off and went to return to his rubber ball. He still needed to practice.

The bird started flapping its wings and took off into the sky at high speeds. Naruto couldn't keep his mouth closed he was in so much awe as they tore through the skies. His blue eyes were looking down, filled with amazement, "Ha! Everything looks so small!" Naruto used his chakra to stick to the metal surface as he stood up and extended his arms, "I'm the Hokage of the world!"

"Sit down!" Tights yanked Naruto down, and the clumsy boy lost his footing and her expression was full of horror when she saw her little companion freefalling toward the ground. Jiraiya would kill her if she let Naruto turn into a smear against the ground, so she directed her machine to swoop down and save him. Air was blown in her face during the sudden nose dive and the bird opened its mouth to catch Naruto.

There was a loud yelp of pain as the machine bit down to secure Naruto's body, but other than that he would live to see another day, and that was all that mattered. Tights wiped away a bead of sweat, "Are you stupid!? You could have died! YOU ALMOST DIED!"

"That was awesome, let's do it again!" Naruto yelled out in excitement.

"NO!"

The mechanical bird started cawing loudly out of the blue and took on its auto-pilot feature. Tights banged on its head, but it kept going in the direction of the town that was nearby. At first she was going to override whatever command it had given itself, but when she saw the giant plume of smoke coming from the civilian village she understood what was happening. It was the only town near their safe house, and she would probably find Jiraiya there.

As it was known to do, once they were directly over said village the bird dropped them out of the air and flew off in the opposite direction. Tights grabbed Naruto and hugged him close to her body as she reached for another device on her waist. She pulled out what looked to be a gun and fired it at a tall building. A grappling hook shot out as they swung over the village and smashed against the side of the building.

"Gosh, I hate that thing!" Tights complained as her body ached all over.

Naruto looked around with a hint of worry, the entire village covered in smoke, "What's going on, Tights-chan!?"

"I don't kn—" The entire building was starting to come crashing down, a man was sent flying through it. She leapt from the side of the building to a lower rooftop and her and Naruto rolled across the ground. "Somebody's getting thrown around like a rag doll." It was hard to see through the smoke cloud, but she could at least see a giant figure about to pounce down on them.

A giant hand weaved through the cloud of smoke and smacked said figure away from them, " **Hop on!** " Tights grabbed Naruto by his collar and they jumped into the summon animal's open palm. " **Jiraiya's in trouble right now, some guys from a group called Akatsuki are giving him a run for his money!** "

It was a toad that had saved them, and Tights looked around, "Where is Jiraiya then?"

The older man dropped out of the sky as if it were on cue, "The Great Toad Sage is right here!" He said with a lot of pride in his voice. "You two need to get the hell out of here, right now!"

"Wait, you're staying!?" Naruto yelled at the man and he nodded.

"There's no way I'm letting these lunatics step foot in Konoha," Jiraiya said in a defensive tone and pointed at Tights. "Take Naruto and _leave_!" He ordered sternly, and she knew when he was serious by the way he was speaking.

A giant blast of wind made the smoke dissipate and revealed a tall man standing on the roof top adjacent to them. A black mask covered the bottom half of his face, while a white hood covered his hair. He wore a black cloak with red clouds embroidered into it, "No can do. I'm taking the alien _and_ the Jinchuriki; they can turn a nice profit." Two black creatures landed on the rooftop and stood next to him and he rolled his neck, "Now, shall we pick up where we left off?"

"Alien?" Naruto looked at Jiraiya for answers.

"Not now kid, things are serious," Jiraiya shooed him and Tights away, "Go back to the safe house and prepare to leave, hopefully I'll be there soon."

"Don't be so ready to die, Jiraiya," The man said with a laugh. "Now, where's the alien?"

Jiraiya pointed behind the man with a smile, as a deceptively small figure had a huge boulder hoisted over his head and threw it at one of the creatures, sending it flying across the town, "I will be captive to no one!" The short boy had a light blue head and a purple scalp, wearing a tight uniform from his home planet.

The man sent his other creature flying at the boy, "Don't get too big for your britches patrol man." He never broke eye contact with Jiraiya, since he was the real threat right now.

"We don't have to do this, Kakuzu!" Jiraiya yelled at the man.

"Yes, yes we do."

 **XxX**

 **I've been binge watching Young Justice, god that series is so fucking great. I'm not going to lie, that's why I haven't been updating as frequently. Blame Netflix, Netflix is most definitely the devil.**


	38. Black & Red Clouds

**Black & Red Clouds ~ 38**

Kakuzu looked over his shoulder and saw a small purple alien pointing a ray gun directly at him, "Long time no see, Jaco." He grinned underneath his mask as he turned to face the extraterrestrial, "You haven't been on Earth since I sent you back to your planet with your tail tucked between your legs. Whatever happened to those missiles that were supposed to blow us up?"

"Hey don't turn your ba—" Jiraiya covered Naruto's mouth and grabbed him by the collar with his other hand. He threw the boy into Tights' grasp before he drew any unwanted attention toward them.

Jaco grumbled under his breath and furrowed his brow, "I am no longer apart of the Galactic Patrol." It almost pained him to say, still holding up his gun defensively toward the menacing figure of Kakuzu. It sent a chill up his spine just having to face the undead shinobi, but his mind was at somewhat ease since Jiraiya was fighting him too.

"Oh, it's no more, what happened?" Kakuzu asked with a smug tone and a hint of knowingness in his voice.

"It was destroyed by the black and red clouds," He recalled with a shaking voice. "The king and everyone else have been killed."

"Except you, I wonder why?" Kakuzu looked up as his fire mask landed back next to him and rejoined his body. "It must be a miracle of sorts."

"I was away on a mission, and when I returned there was a lone man in an orange mask roaming our planet," Jaco remembered and growled. "He was an earthling, which is why I returned here to investigate the black and red clouds." He had already taken note of Kakuzu's attire, "You will be my first arrest as a lone officer of the galaxy."

Jiraiya was currently making hand seals, but the moment his muscles even moved, Kakuzu turned his head ever so slightly to acknowledge the white haired man behind him, "Why don't you let me and an old friend chat it up for a second, Jiraiya. I'll make time for you too," He turned back to Jaco. "I have bad news for you, patrol man. The Akatsuki is the _new_ Galactic Patrol, and you're out of a job."

Before their conversation could go on the two buildings suddenly began to sink into the ground, Kakuzu turned around angrily and saw that the trio of enemy shinobi had disappeared while he was talking to Jaco. He turned once more and Jaco was gone as well. The man grit his teeth and tried to summon forth his wind mask that he released earlier, but there was no response.

Kakuzu leapt off of the rooftop and kept jumping through the town, trying to find a foothold that wouldn't sink into the ever growing pit of mud that was swallowing everything in sight. After putting two and two together, he quickly accepted the fact that whoever casted this jutsu got the drop on his mask while it was searching for an opening and killed it in the sinkhole.

"You're going to pay for that heart, asshole," Kakuzu mumbled under his breath.

"I highly doubt you'll remember it," Kakuzu swiftly turned around and saw Tights holding something in her hand; it looked like an ink pen.

The man stared directly at it and smirked, "What do you expect to do with th-"

A blinding flash of light engulfed his vision and Kakuzu suddenly dropped the ground. Tights slid the pen-like object into her clothes and smirked, "Certainly knocked you out, huh?" She said as she walked up to Kakuzu's unconscious body and looked down him.

Jaco, Jiraiya, and Naruto all appeared in a collective shushin, with their eyes covered still. Jiraiya lifted his hand from his eyes a bit and took a look at the scene, "Did you just fry his brain?"

"No, but he won't remember ever encountering us or our new friend," She turned to look at Jaco with a smile.

"We need to kill him now!" Jaco suddenly exclaimed, but before he could run off, Jiraiya grabbed him off of the ground and held him back. "Do you not understand that they're here to destroy your planet like they did mine!?"

"Trust me, I know, but if we kill him now they'll do their best to track us down," Jiraiya hoisted Jaco over his shoulder and turned his back on Kakuzu's unconscious body. "Live to fight another day, kid, or adult. I don't know how old you are."

Naruto ran up to Kakuzu's body and kicked him in the head, "That's for disrespecting me!"

Tights walked up and grabbed Naruto by the collar, "Let's go, kid, you've had your fun for the day." She pushed him in Jiraiya's direction and the trio disappeared, leaving her with Kakuzu. The brunette kneeled down and instantly removed his equipment pouches, and took everything out of his pockets.

She froze in place when she pulled out a device she had only seen in her father's lab. The woman turned it to its back and saw the Capsule Corps insignia she was quietly praying that she wouldn't see. Tights stuffed it in her pocket and got up from the ground, "Son of a bitch."

How the hell did the Akatsuki get their hands on Capsule Corps tech?

 **XxX**

(Konohagakure no Sato)

Goku and N found a nice place to sit outside of a random steakhouse that opened up early. Even though he just downed the disgusting smoothie that K nearly forced him to drink, he still had enough space to eat steak with one of his best friends. N was quietly picking away at his meal while Goku was tearing through numerous plates of food.

Once he finished another plate of meat and veggies, he pointed one his chopsticks at the uneaten food on N's plate, "Are you going to finish that?" Goku asked with a smile and N offered up a portion of his food to satisfy Goku's unearthly diet. "You know, for someone who wanted to talk, you aren't doing much talking," Goku said with a grin to try and brighten N's mood.

"Sorry, sorry, I've been training all night," N said as he cupped his cheek in his hand and let out a yawn. "I shouldn't be the one delivering you bad news, but Goku, they're coming for _us_ , and you need to be ready."

"Who's coming for us?"

"The Akatsuki, the people that kidnapped me," N explained to his clueless friend and smirked when Goku started grinning. "That doesn't scare you? The Akatsuki are literally strong enough to destroy planets. They can turn us into pieces of shit in no time. Their whole plan is rid the Earth of Aliens."

"Heh, not if I train hard and get stronger than they are," Goku nearly jumped out of his seat once N told him there were a gang of strong men itching for a fight with him. He smiled from cheek to cheek at his friend, "We're going train hard and kick all of their asses because I'm here to stay."

Goku's assurance made N smile, "You're crazy." He set his chopsticks down and leaned back in his chair, "I just wanted to let you know this too, I didn't betray you guys or the village, I'm still loyal. I just—"

"I know you're one of the good guys, Kiri," Goku said all of a sudden and got up from his seat. He placed his portion of the bill on the table, "You don't need to explain, I know you're up to something." The saiyan boy walked off after that and left N sitting in silence at the table.

Goku never seemed to be wise or aware, but there was an air of knowingness in his voice as he walked off, and it rattled N's brain to no end. His childhood friend was usually a hothead, and it left him in awe at his sudden maturity, staring at the table top in silence.

A waitress came out with a smile and had a bill ready to hand the teenage boy, "Will that be all for you?"

"Ye-"

A blue-haired woman wearing civilian clothes sat down in front of him and her blank stare made him go quiet once more, "I'll have a water, please." Konan looked up to the waitress and offered a rare smile, before returning her gaze to the boy sitting before her. There were a few minutes of silence as they sat, but once the waitress returned; Konan thanked her, and then quietly started taking sips.

N raised a curious brow, "Is there something that you want?"

"You told him," Konan stated quietly simply and set her glass of water down on the table.

"It was the right thing to do," N replied.

"I understand, but tread lightly, little one," Konan said as she folded her arms over each other. "This is your first and only warning. If you cross the line, there will be _severe_ consequences."

N rolled his eyes, "What're you going to do, kill me?"

"No, that would be too easy. We have something far worse for you."

 **XxX**

(Unknown Location)

Smoke billowed upward into the air, and on the rooftop of one of the biggest buildings sat a man wearing an orange mask. He looked down on all the destruction he caused the Galactic Patrol and smirked. They stood no chance against the team that he put together.

He heard footsteps coming from behind him, so he turned his head to see the person that aided him in his endeavors, "Freiza, how nice of you to join me."

The alien laughed lightly and stood over Tobi, patting the human on his head, "You did far better than expected, Earthling." He folded his arms over one another and looked at the destroyed planet, "The only thing you left standing is this prison, why is that?"

"It will serve a purpose," Tobi didn't really care for being treated like a pet, but he knew Freiza was the last person he wanted to piss off, lest he wanted the planet he worked so hard to obtain to be destroyed in the blink of an eye. "You'll know in due time, your payment for your assistance will be given to you soon."

"Oh? The life of the saiyans who betrayed my army," Freiza chuckled as he continued to watch the remains of the galactic patrol's planet burn to the ground. He turned his head to look at Tobi with a devilish smirk, "They no longer interest me, for something else has caught my eye."

Tobi grunted, "And what might that be?"

Freiza gestured his head toward the ground and Tobi looked to see what it was, quietly biting his lip once he saw what the alien was referring to. There was a man with orange hair leading a platoon of Freiza's soldiers back toward the large building they were sitting on. He wore the standard Akatsuki uniform, consisting of the black and red cloak, but what stood out about him was the ripple patterned eyes that were now looking up at the two powerhouses on the roof of the building.

"You want Nagato," Tobi watched as the man and the other soldiers entered the building on the ground, and then turned his gaze to Freiza.

"No, I want his eyes," Freiza said as he turned around and prepared to make his leave. "That's not a problem, is it, Tobi?"

The man had to hide his dissatisfaction with one of the strongest people in the universe, "Not at all."

 **XxX**

(Konohagakure ~ Two Weeks Later)

Goku lead the way through the village as Gai and Rock Lee trailed behind him for their daily run around Konoha. As the days went on, Goku got used to the weights, and even went up a few classes to bolster his speed further. His body advanced at an unnatural rate, coupled with K's unusual diet regimen and nonstop work-out plan; he was staring to turn into a true warrior.

The trio of green clad ninja arrived at the training field at exactly five-o-clock and immediately got to doing their push ups. K was sitting on top of a log quietly watching his student along with the two Konoha ninja he employed to help oversee his training.

Goku had cut down the time it took for him to complete the push ups, and by 7 AM he was already finished while Gai and Rock Lee were still going. He jumped up instantly moved on to the next exercise K and Gai set up for their students, which was carrying a giant weight over their head and walking a mile.

At first Goku struggled, but after weeks he could run with the weight overhead like it was nothing. K continued to watch in silence as his student tore through exercise after exercise throughout the day. It had become so routine for them, it was already four-o-clock in the after noon before he knew it, and that was usually when they stopped for the day to rest.

Today, Goku kept going, doing his own exercises, while Gai wiped sweat off with a towel as he approached K.

The black haired ninja turned his head to the Konoha native and raised a brow.

"I just wanted to comment on how youthful and progressive Son Goku is," Gai complimented with a smile. "I hope that one day that he and Rock Lee can participate in the most youthful of sparring matches to see who has the better student."

"We'll see," K didn't really care for the idea. "He still has a lot to improve on."

Rock Lee mimicked his sensei's behavior, wiping sweat off and praising Goku, "It will not be long before Goku-kun is the strongest in all of Kumogakure! I hope to one day spar with such a prodigy!"

Goku was so caught up in his training he didn't hear the exchange, but he suddenly stop doing weighted lunges across the field when the word 'prodigy' floated into the air. He couldn't fight his grin, "Heh heh, hear that K-sensei, prodigy!" He laughed to himself and then continued to train.

"Don't be foolish, Goku," K shut his eyes and tried to move past the prodigy comment, because he knew it would make his student cocky. "Today will be the last day I'll need you two."

"Hai! I understand that Goku-kun must move on to bigger and better things!" Gai exclaimed and then pointed back toward the village. "LEE, WE MUST GO AND FIND ANOTHER YOUTHFUL STUDENT TO TAKE UNDER OUR WINGS."

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"GAI-SEN—"

"Leave," K cut in before the sunset appeared and the duo of taijutsu masters dashed back toward the village. "Goku, come here."

Goku dropped the weights and turned to face his sensei, walking up to him while he caught his breath after training non-stop for hours. He placed his hands on his hips and squinted real hard, "Are you finally going to teach me that Kaio-ken technique you promised?"

"Something like that," He pushed himself off of the log and stood over Goku, "Remember the scroll I gave you?"

Goku nodded and instantly pulled out said scroll with a confused expression.

"Open it," K instructed and the boy did as so.

Goku stared blankly at the scroll trying to figure out what was going on, and K bit his thumb to draw blood. He slapped his fingers against the seal array in the middle of the open scroll and the two shinobis were suddenly pulled into an open vortex created by the seal.

The saiyan boy was falling ungracefully to the bottom of what seemed to be like endless vortex, while K was floating down calmly with his arms folded over each other. Goku could see a roof from the opening, and the next thing he knew he fell right through the ceiling, and K slid right through the opening as well.

The entire house immediately collapsed in on itself once Goku falling through the roof destroyed its foundation. The boy's head was swimming uncontrollably, and he rolled over to his back, but instantly shrieked when a pillar from the house was about to fall down on top of him. K held it up and looked down blankly at his student, while Goku grinned awkwardly.

He stared into the pinkish yellow sky, "What just happened? Where are we?"

The roof had been destroyed, so he could see right through it, and jumped up from the ground when a pair of blue eyes looked down from the ceiling. He also saw a mop of blonde hair, "King Kai, I think we have visitors."

"My house!" Another voice followed up, "Who did thi-" He looked through the opening of the roof and saw none other than K and Goku covered in debris.

"Long time no see," K said casually and stared back up at the surprised blue man with the sunglasses and hat on.

The man instantly burst into laughter when he saw K, and with help from his blonde partner was let down from the ceiling.

Goku and K walked out of the destroyed house and met with the two on the ground. Unbeknownst to Goku, while the boy looked around; he cracked a smile at the man, "King Kai, I brought a guest with me, if you don't mind." When he turned to face Goku his face was as still as ever. "Goku this is King Kai."

"He doesn't look like a king, he's actually kind of fat," Goku was quick to blurt out, running up to King Kai and rubbing on his belly. He got two shocked glances from K and the blonde man standing next to him.

Instead of being outraged, King Kai immediately started laughing and grabbed Goku by the wrist, lifting the boy off of the ground, "Is this your student, K?"

"Unfortunately," K responded with a stale face.

Goku grinned at King Kai, swinging around in his grasp, "Are you going to teach me Kaio-ken now, King Kai!?"

King Kai couldn't hold on to the chipper ball of energy that was Son Goku and dropped him to the ground, "Kaio-ken!? You expect me to teach a child Kaio-ken?"

"Yes," K said simply and stared expectantly at King Kai. "This child has some of our planets best hunting for him."

"Heh, you must be pretty important then, Goku-kun?" The blonde haired man asked the boy with a smile.

Goku couldn't fight his child-like smile, but instantly frowned when King Kai was shaking his head no repeatedly.

"I won't allow it, Goku hasn't matured enough yet to handle that stress on his body," King Kai reasoned but got an irritated glare from K in return.

"Fine, I'll go back to Earth and teach it to him myself," K said as he turned his back on King Kai. "Let's go, Goku."

"But if he's a King, I at least want to see how strong he is before we g-" The boy tried to argue but was being dragged away by his sensei.

He only brought Goku to King Kai because he was the originator of the technique, but he would have no problem teaching the boy himself. He needed his student to be prepared for the inevitable battles he would have to face in the future.

"Wait," K stopped when he heard the voice of the blonde haired stranger. The man walked up to him and Goku, "I'm willing to train with Goku, if you don't mind." He smiled at the boy and then looked to his sensei for approval, "I can sense his potential."

K looked the man over and he looked very unassuming, but he knew when it came to the fighters King Kai kept on reserve not to be quick to judge. He stared at him for an entire minute before saying, "Very well." The man continued to walk off, leaving Goku with King Kai and the unknown man for the time being. "I'll return in two weeks, Goku, don't be foolish."

The same vortex reopened and sucked K into it, to return to Earth, while Goku was grinning from cheek to cheek in anticipation of his new training.

"Ok, Goku-kun, I'm going to teach you a very special technique. I actually just came up with it recently, it doesn't even have a name," The man said in an eager tone.

Goku was nearly jumping with joy until something dawned on him, "Wait, what did you say your name was?"

"You can call me Minato-sensei."

 **XxX**

 **Sorry for the wait, I just got REAL internet back at my house, so expect regular updates from here on out. Much love.**


	39. Chapter Thirty Nine

**39**

 _Two Weeks Later_

It was an early morning in Konoha; Chi-Chi was staring out of the hotel window in something of a daze. Today was the beginning of the final exams and she was nervous to say the least. She was being grouped with the best of the best to go all out with. Her first matchup was even a bit worrisome, considering how good of a taijutsu expert he was, and he probably spent the _entire_ month training like her fellow Kumo resident Son Goku.

Bulma stirring in her sleep made her turn around and she tried to smile at the girl as she woke up, "Good morning, Bulma-chan." She greeted as she walked away from the window so she could continue preparing for the big day she had ahead of her.

"Morning," Bulma said groggily as she rubbed at her eyes. She looked around the room, seeing Mao still sleeping, and the empty spot that usually held Goku, "Goku's still not back?" Chi-Chi shook her head and the blue-haired teenager got out of the bed and stretched her arms. She only chose to sleep in a simple t-shirt and a pair of panties.

As she was stretching the door flipped open and Master Roshi immediately had a nose gushing with blood once he caught wind of the young girl. She wasn't naked, but the old man had an active imagination. His sunglasses starting sliding down his face, and he would have gone unnoticed had he not been breathing so hard upon entering.

Chi-Chi yelled out all of a sudden and a sandal was instantly planted in his face, "SENSEI!" The man was sent flying through the door of the opposite hotel room and a fuming little girl stormed back into her own room pointing at Bulma, "Put some clothes on, please!"

Bulma frowned, "It's not my fault he's a pervert!" She said as she walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Master Roshi quickly regained his composure, since he was excited about the day. He pushed his sunglasses back up and wiped away the blood that managed to drip out. He entered the room with a big smile, "Are you ready, Chi-Chi!?" The girl sent back a stale face and he raised a curious brow, "Today's the first day of exams!" The old man was giddier than Chi-Chi was for sure.

"I'm nervous," Chi-Chi admitted as she folded her arms over one another. The girl sat down on her bed, "There's going to be some pretty strong genin there…" Her mind trailed off into thinking about Raditz, who defeated Choji with one hand. Even Rock Lee was strong in his own right, and her skin was almost crawling at the thought of walking into the arena.

Her sensei saw her sulking and patted a gentle hand on her head, "You've got nothing to worry about, Chi-Chi!" She looked up and grinned at the man, "Now let's show Goku and K who's the best team and Kumogakure."

 **XxX**

(Konohagakure ~ With Team Vegeta)

Raditz face was slightly cringing while he re-bandaged the stump that used to be his hand. He glared at Vegeta as the boy got up from his seat and strolled across the room. He hated living with the constant reminder of how untrustworthy and irrational his teammate was, but there was nothing he could do to change the past. He had a big day to prepare for, since he was the only genin representing Iwagakure.

Vegeta had gotten up to open the door for Mai, their recently added teammate for the exams. She had a big box in her hands, "Hm, the package came I see." He said as he snatched it out of her grasp and went over to the table to tear it open with a knife. "What did that wretched old man send us this time?" He asked as he didn't hesitate to pull out the contents.

The trio of genin stared at the cases full of capsules, and Vegeta handed them off to Mai if it looked uninteresting to him. For the most part, the care package consisted of medical capsules, and weapons that Vegeta didn't care for. The last item he lifted out of the crate was a metallic box that had a note attached to it, "Open immediately." The saiyan prince read out loud and turned to his two teammates, "This is your job." He placed it in Mai's hand like the other items and went to sit back down on top of his bed.

Mai furrowed her brow, always being tasked with things Vegeta found too annoying to do. Every day she questioned her worth to the team, but shook it off as her mind turned to the metallic box that hardly looked like tech this planet had to offer. She looked up at Vegeta and Raditz, remembering Alien technology was highly plausible in her life now, "I don't know how to open it."

"Well, figure it out, girl," Raditz said as he finished covering his stump and went to find a seat. He shut his eyes while he waited for Mai to do so.

"It's not that—fine," The girl shook her head, fiddling with the object trying to make it activate. Mai sat in silence trying to figure out akin to a child trying to solve a Rubik's cube, except her task was a thousand times more frustrating. The girl growled and threw the box against the wall and it suddenly sprung open, beginning to buzz loudly. Her eyes widened, "Did I break it?"

Vegeta jumped up instantly, "You idiot!"

Before the petty argument could ensue, a light started to shine from the device, and a hologram version of Onoki was projected out of it, "Greetings, children." Raditz and Vegeta raised a curious brow, not seeing this kind of tech for years, while Mai was in complete awe. "Don't think because I'm not in attendance I don't hear about your endeavors. You three are representing my village very well, and I hope to continue to hear good things… _However,_ " All three genin gulped hard when the man's tone began to change. "Remember that _everything_ gets back to me. Should you step out on your orders, you will be dealt with by me personally. I will overlook your previous mistakes _Vegeta_ , but I expect nothing but excellence from here on out."

The Prince of all Saiyans grumbled something under his breath and the hologram literally turned to face him. His eyes widened, but remained silent.

"Now that you have made it this far, I can update you with your true mission. Normally I would never trust such brats to carry out something so serious, but to remain inconspicuous I put this in your hands. You will be working with a new set of friends I've made in Hi no Kuni. I have sent everything you will need to carry out your part, and said new friends will be explaining the rest," The hologram disappeared and the trio of genin stared at each other.

"New friends," Vegeta said distastefully, he hated taking orders from anyone _especially_ a new comer.

The room went silent once more when there was a knock on the door, "Must be the new friends he was talking about," Mai said as she looked at Vegeta. "Well, go open the door."

 **XxX**

(Konohagakure ~ With Team Deidara)

Karin wrapped bandages around N's torso, while said blonde was staring hatefully at Deidara, who was sitting on a branch. Mere minutes ago their teenage leader was 'teaching' his student about different types of explosives, and their lesson went wrong. The red head genin had to pull shrapnel out N's torso, "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

"I know," N got over the pain once he got a chance to bite Karin's arm and utilize her ability, but what bothered him was Deidara's childish demeanor about it all. Once the girl was done, he put his sweatshirt back on and adjusted the drawstrings. He looked up at his 'sensei' and furrowed his brow, "Nothing to say?"

"Actually, yes," Deidara smirked said as he flicked his wrist, and a clay bird shot out from his sleeve and landed on N's shoulder. "Since you're the only one out of you three to make it to the finals, you have to take on this very serious mission, un." The boy's eyes showed some interest, so Deidara began to smile. He knew he was about to ruin N's mood even more, "Since you three are here, you know about Earth's little alien problem. You were put in this exam to build a clientele for regular humans who are tired of being harassed by this alien presence. When you get the chance, I want you to capture Son Goku with this new technology."

N rolled his eyes, but the moment he did that the clay bird on his shoulder melted down and squirmed onto his chest. He wasn't surprised at all, "I'm guessing if I don't do what I'm told, you'll kill me?" Deidara nodded happily.

The older blonde threw a capsule down to N and the boy caught it, "I'll let you know when to use it. If you disobey, remember, it's your head, un."

The boy stared at the capsule and then put it in his pocket. He felt bad about being turned against one of his best friends, but he would follow along with the Akatsuki's strange orders for now, lest he wanted to be killed. Hopefully Goku would escape when the time came.

Something in N's mind clicked while Deidara was still spouting off orders and he nearly smiled while the teenager was ranting. If he actually had to capture Goku, could he even do it? The saiyan child was extremely strong and he had gone MIA while training. Only time would tell, but now N was legitimately interested.

"Ok, un! Let's go to the arena!"

 **XxX**

(Training Field ~ With Team Gai)

Ten-Ten pulled out weapon after weapon as she polished, sharpened, and maintained her arsenal. After seeing what Lazuli did to Vegeta with relative ease, she wanted to be as ready as possible. Just like her teammate Rock Lee, she was excited for what was ahead of her. Facing another strong kunoichi like Lazuli was making her blood boil with excitement.

Rock Lee was doing non-stop push ups, he wasn't worried about his first round opponent, even though she was quite capable. After seeing what 19 did to Neji, he wanted to revenge not only his teammate, but Hinata who lost her eyes in the Forest of Death. He believed in Son Goku, but he wanted the chance at the chubby Otogakure genin. Neji was still injured, couldn't walk, move his arms, and he was just now getting to the point of sitting up straight.

Avenging the Hyuga's was his burning motivation for the day. He jumped up from the exercise and dusted himself off as he walked up to salute his sensei. The older man smiled at his student, Ten-Ten followed behind Lee, "We're ready, Gai-sensei!" He threw his hand up in excitement and Ten-Ten rolled her eyes as the teacher-pupil duo immediately started crying tears of joy.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU," Gai wiped tears out of his eyes as he placed a hand on top of Rock Lee's head. He looked at Ten-Ten, "Ten-Ten! I am proud of your progress too, a very youthful kunoichi indeed!" Gai returned his hand back at his side and promptly folded his arms over each other. "Remember your motivation for today, kids! Our dear friend Neji needs our youthful energy to help with his recovery. You've made it this far, let us show the village why our team is the strongest to walk the streets of Konoha!"

Lee yelled out passionately, while Ten-Ten simply nodded.

"So we should head to the arena then?"

 **XxX**

(Streets Of Konoha ~ With Jirou)

The boy sat quietly on top of a stream as he let his chakra flow freely. Jirou's eyes were pressed shut, just feeling out nature around him. He slowly went through a string of hand signs while meditating, the earth around him beginning to rumble. Slabs from the ground began to rise up and shape themselves, as the stream elevated as well. The water flowed over the edge, and the boy finally opened his eye to see if what he created was what he wanted. The man-made waterfall made him smirk.

He was trying to a get a handle over his abilities and this was just the beginning. Jirou tried to follow up with another string of hand-signs but a sudden spasm in his fingers destroyed the sequence. The boy grasped at the hurt hand and hissed quietly, shaking it off like it would make the pain go away, "How did that old man do it?" He asked no one in particular as he tended to his hand.

An ink bird landing on his shoulder let him know his time was up. He shooed the bird away and it dipped into the water, dissipating into the words 'time to leave.' Jirou shut his eyes, because despite the fact that Sai looked up to him as a leader, he seemed to always be the one getting orders. He let out a low sigh, and the waterfall he just created slowly sunk back into the ground.

He stood up on the stream and walked onto the grass, watching quietly as Sai emerged from the shadows with his usual stale face, "Nice to see you, Sai." A simple nod was all he got in return from the stoic teenager. "Why are you in such a rush leave?" Jirou hated to be interrupted from his training session.

"I may have found a lead for you," Sai said with his usual disingenuous smile creeping onto his face. "We went through your files back at the base, remember who was apart of the _original_ 'Cell Project' don't you?"

Jirou nodded, "Orochimaru before he left the village."

"He stole documents, naturally, but he also took half of the entire project. There were more cells that were supposed to be infused into you that would have made you more powerful," Sai reminded the newly born Jirou. The boy looked somewhat confused, "Orochimaru defected, but had recent ties in Otogakure. There's a team of Otogakure ninja in the exam, if we use them; we can lure him out."

"You think he has the answers," Jirou scratched at his chin and then simply nodded. "Perhaps it would be best to head down to the arena then. Let's go."

Both boys disappeared in a swift shushin and left the area like it was before. Once they left, bushes started to shift and a small pug with a Konoha hitae-ate wrapped around its head walked out, and from the opposite side of the stream were more dogs, as well as Kakashi. He was seen moving his headband back over his eye and letting out a long sigh.

Pakkun sniffed the ground as Kakashi walked up to him, "Any idea what's going on around here anymore?" He looked up at his summoner with a frown.

"Not at all," Kakashi said with a frown underneath his mask. There were a lot of wild things happening within the walls of Konoha and he was tasked with figuring it out outside of the ANBU. The man kneeled down to further talk to Pakkun, "A lot of shit is brewing. He's been searching for something the last few days; he's not covering tracks so it can't be bad."

"Or he doesn't care who finds out," Pakkun said to Kakashi with a hint of skepticism in his voice. "Danzo disappeared the day _he_ appeared, he could have killed him. The boy could be worse for Konoha than the old man, which would be ironic." The pack of dogs got more of their scents and was ready to move out again.

"I've never seen that kid he was with either," Kakashi tried to connect Sai's face to a recognizable name but only drew blanks. Something else clicked in his mind though, "Oh! I'm supposed to be picking up Naruto and Sasuke at the gate, I might be a little late." He disappeared a poof of smoke and the group of nin-ken did the same promptly after.

 **XxX**

(Konoha's Gates – 30 Minutes Later)

"I hate adults," Naruto said, sitting down with his head resting between his knees. Kotetsu and Izumo wouldn't let him and Sasuke inside the village until their sensei showed up. "I hate adults," Naruto reiterated while Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'm going home," Sasuke said with his hands stuffed in his pockets and started walking away, but Naruto snapping at him made him turn around and groan. "What?"

"What if Kakashi-sensei shows up? He said he had something special for us today!" Naruto yelled with excitement in his voice, jumping up and running up to Sasuke. "We already learned the Rasengan; maybe he's going to teach us something even cooler!"

"He would have to show up to show us anything in the first place, dobe," Sasuke spat back in response and tried to turn his back on his teammate once more. They had been traveling around Hi no Kuni watching Jiraiya flirt with every woman in the country, and then he dumped them on the Konoha's doorstep for Kakashi to come get. Sasuke was done with his so called mentors for a while, he just wanted to relax at home. "Just go home, Naruto."

"You don't at least want to see the exams?" Naruto asked with somewhat of a frown. Sasuke was in one of his moods when he wanted to be alone, and he wasn't a big fan of it.

"Not a—"

A poof of smoke popping up behind them made them turn around to see what it was, and it was none other than their tardy sensei Kakashi, "Yo." He simply waved to his two students and they growled, both boys tackling Kakashi to the ground and tried to punch him, and once again he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

The real Kakashi waved from the gate, "Ok, kids, let's go see the exams."

"YEAH!" Naruto jumped up and ran after Kakashi as he walked away.

Sasuke growled and followed behind his sensei and teammate.

He just wanted to go home.

 **XxX**

 **I SWEAR I'M TRYING LMAO. HAPPY LUKE CAGE DAY. DEATH IS IRRELEVANT NEXT I SWEAR. DAILY UPDATES I SWEAR. I SWEAR. I SWEAR.**


	40. False King

**40 ~ False King**

For the participants that arrived early, they were escorted to their own area before the official beginning of the exam. The only early arrivals at the moment were the genin from Otogakure, 19, Lapis, and Lazuli. The twins sat outside of the bathroom while they listened to the muffled sound of their teammate vomiting into the toilet. Lazuli got up and knocked on the door a few times, "You okay in there 19?" She asked with a hint of actual worry in her voice, 19 was never sick.

"He had too many of those disgusting smoothies," Lapis concluded, and then scratched his chin and smiled. "Or he's scared to fight Son Gok—" The door busted open and both twins jumped away. 19 furrowed his brow and walked out of the resting area, leaving the twins alone while he went up to see the rest of the arena. Lapis couldn't hold back his laugh, "Did I strike a nerve?"

"Most likely," Lazuli chuckled along with her brother and skipped along to follow after 19. "I want to see the arena too, come on."

Lapis shrugged as he followed behind the two genin, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he jogged up the stairs to the main level. The arena was starting to fill up with spectators from all over. Kids were accompanied by their parents as they were going to the highest level to find seats, gamblers were also moving throughout the venue reeking of alcohol and other activities, and the most interesting thing to the boy were the shady looking teenagers shuffling throughout the arena. He could spot a 'criminal' out from a mile away.

19 and his sister went to explore, while he lagged behind and slipped into one of the halls that led to the stairs. When one of the random teenage stragglers was wondering by, he tripped them and dragged the kid by the foot behind the stairwell with him. Lapis dropped down to his knees and placed his hand over his mouth to quiet his screams, simply pinching a nerve and the boy went unconscious.

"Stupid," He smirked as he rummaged through the boy's pockets and found small baggies filled to the brim with green powder. Lapis examined it and raised a curious brow, "What the hell is this?" He asked no one in particular and then followed it up with a shrug before putting the baggies in his pocket. They might come in handy in the future. He did another scan over the boy's body and found a knife, which he also took from him, and then got off of him.

He slid out from behind the stairwell quietly, but stopped as Team Gai entered the hall to head up the stairs. Rock Lee and Ten-Ten were glaring at him as they climbed up the stairs and he only smirked in return, "Take it out on my teammates." He said with a laugh as he advanced up the stairs behind them.

More people were flooding into the arena and it let him know that it was really about to start. Since he wasn't about to fight today he could sit with the rest of the regular spectators and root for his team. He sifted through the rows and finally found a seat. As he sat down, someone sat down next to him, and Lapis turned to see the face of the 'Prince of All Saiyans' staring down at some weird device, before quickly pocketing it once he saw Lapis look at him.

"Vegeta!" Lapis threw his arm around the boy's shoulder and was instantly put into a chokehold. A lot of regular civilians gasped, "Easy brother, I'm just busting your balls." He laughed, not sounding distressed at all despite the fact that Vegeta had an iron grip around his neck.

"Don't talk to me," Vegeta released Lapis and turned his head to the main part of the arena landscape full of grass and trees to simulate an actual battlefield.

More spectators started to fill up their row, and none other than Uchiha Sasuke, as well as Uzumaki Naruto sat down next to Vegeta. They were followed by their sensei Kakashi and Sakura. Vegeta was nearly growling and stood up to look around for another seat, but the place was packed. He even heard some murmurs through the crowd about a Kumogakure genin named 'Son Goku.'

Naruto was handed an event program, reading the names of the participants, "What's a SonGoku?" He asked out loud and Vegeta groaned out loud. "What?"

"Shut up Naruto it's starting," Sakura smacked him with her program.

The contestants for the final part of the exam were all standing on the ground, along with the proctor and the loud conversations throughout the arena were at an all time high. Out of the eight genin, only seven were present. Son Goku was missing out the lineup, and Lapis raised a curious brow.

The murmurs among the crowd were only getting louder, and the proctor remained calmer than ever. He was in direct communication with the Hokage, and when an ANBU member appeared to the side of him he knew a new message was being delivered. Hayate was slipped a note and the ANBU member disappeared. The man opened it and simply nodded his head, slipping the note into his back pocket, "Since Son Goku hasn't arrived yet, we'll skip to the next ma-"

"He'll be here soon," a new voice entered the conversation and Hayate calmly turned to face the stoic K. He held up his index finger for a moment, "One second. The other genin can return to the stands."

"You're not in charge!" Ten-Ten yelled out at the man and he shot her a stern glance that actually made her tense up.

"Go," K continued on, biting his thumb to draw blood and then slapping it onto the ground. A pinkish-yellow spinning vortex opened and the Jounin reached in and pulled out the boy that the entire arena was waiting on. Son Goku was fast asleep, and the sound of the crowd rejoicing to finally see the most talked about genin. K kicked him gently with his foot, "Don't be foolish Goku, your time is now."

19 was the only genin remaining within the arena, standing there quietly as he observed the sleeping form of Goku. The boy cracked his eye open and still didn't realize what was going on. The chubby genin was ready to begin.

Goku outstretched his arms, "Where am I?"

"Final exams, your match starts now," K said as he disappeared in a crackle of electricity, leaving the genin with the proctor.

Hayate didn't know how to explain the occurrence that just took place, and decided to just roll with it. He stepped forward and pulled Goku off of the ground, and then waited for the two boys to assume position. "You two both know the rules," He looked between the two children and nodded. "Winner advances to the next round… Begin!"

Goku's eyes widened once he realized what was going on, being thrown into the match so nonchalantly by his sensei. He immediately assumed his fighting stance and watched warily as 19 did the same, "Ya know, I've been waiting for this! I'm really excited to see what you got!" He beckoned 19 to come forth and grinned when the chubby genin displayed his speed for the entire arena to see. Very few trained eyes could keep up with his movement, which didn't include Goku.

The saiyan protected his upper body by crossing his arms as 19 flew in and tried to kick him in his chest. The boy went sliding backwards, kicking up dirt as he slid, and finally regrouped himself by stopping hard. He braced himself for a follow up and leaned backwards when a chain suddenly sailed over his head; Goku grabbed the chain and yanked hard, pulling 19 across the ground when he did.

Before 19 could attempt to get up, Goku flexed his newfound strength and tightened his grip on the chain, swinging his body around hard and dragging 19 across the entire perimeter of the arena three times in a row. He moved to pull hard on the chain once more and bring 19 back within his range, but he was suddenly yanked forward and flying across the arena himself to where 19 was lying in a heap on the ground. Mid-flight Goku released his grip on the chain but maintained his momentum toward 19. He opened his now free palm and started to gather energy for the new technique Minato taught him, but when he did so he winced.

The adrenaline of swinging 19 around like a rag doll wore off quickly and Goku took notice of the blood dripping freely from his palm and the stinging pain that came with it. While he was distracted, 19 got off of the ground and connected his fist with the boy who was flying towards him jaw. Goku was once again sent flying in the opposite direction, while 19 dusted off his clothing with a heavy frown. As he walked in Goku's direction, a blade slowly slid out of his other palm, and the chain continued to drag across the ground as he approached.

Goku rolled over in pain and closed his bleeding palm into a fist. There was a quiet hiss but he was beginning to move past the pain. The boy could see the shadow of 19 approaching him, so he flipped up to a stand just in the nick of time. 19 accelerated faster than he could react, using his forearm to block being a whipped by his chain. The first time it didn't register, but now Goku felt the small blades protruding from his chain digging constantly into his arm. He tried to power through it but it hurt him more than it did good, brandishing a set of shuriken with his free hand and throwing them directly at 19.

The chubby genin smiled and leapt out of the way of the throwing stars, swinging the chain upward and forcing Goku into the sky before slamming it down and watching Goku smash against the floor of the arena repeatedly. He slowly started to retract it after he saw blood leaking from the boy's face and smirked while Goku was dragged across the ground. The blade protruding from his hand got longer and he began preparing to stab it right into the square of Goku's back to pin him down. As he stabbed downward, Goku rolled over, tugging on the chain wrapped around his arm and ignoring the pain for an instance to pull 19 toward him. He had been gathering chakra the entire time, taking a deep breath before exhaling a large ball of fire right into 19's face. To the crowd, it looked like 19's entire upper body was on fire as he was stumbling away from Goku.

The spiked chain wrapped around Goku's arm slid right off, slicing it up one last time while it slithered across the ground back to 19 who was currently putting out the flames while covering his face. Goku was breathing extremely hard as he did the same in the opposite direction and slowly moved to a stand and grasped at the deep wound in his right arm. The saiyan huffed as he looked across the arena at the injured 19.

The entire crowd joined together in a collective gasp when 19 moved his hand from over his face that had been blasted by Goku's attack. Half of the skin on his face was burnt and hanging off of his face, the other half was bubbling and beginning to blister after being hit at point blank range. The Otogakure native had a maniac half grin on his face as it slowly started to regenerate in front of the whole crowd. His half grin transitioned into a full devilish smirk when his face was done stitching it self together through unknown means.

Goku was in silent awe, his arm irritating him as he prepared to begin fighting again, "I knew it." He said mostly to himself while he looked at 19 as he confirmed a hunch he had from earlier. After dragging him across around the entire arena, 19 bounced right back up like it never happened. Even during the preliminaries, Neji broke 19's back and he shook it off. He had some kind of regeneration factor that was helping him throughout his battles. The Kumo-native groaned as he tried to form a plan to actually stop 19 dead in his tracks. He and 19 both hit each other with attacks that probably would have knocked out a regular genin, and the proctor hadn't even budged once in either of their directions throughout the entire match.

Goku untied his headband and rewrapped it around his arm as a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding. He wasn't one for making plans, which was usually left up to K, but K wasn't here. No matter what he hit 19 with he stood back up, but those were minor attacks compared to what he was building in his arsenal. In order for the proctor to stop the match, he would have to injure 19 heavily enough that even his regeneration factor wouldn't help. His time for thinking was coming to a close though since he saw 19 charging in his direction.

For the first time in the entire match, Goku saw 19 making hand seals. 19 had strictly been using taijutsu and his mechanisms throughout the fight. Instead of taking the boy head on, Goku leapt out of the way like he was avoiding a bull and backpedaled away. His opponent quickly pivoted on his foot and continued charging in his direction, not losing any momentum when he did. He extended the arm he was circulating chakra through toward Goku and the blade that was within it shot at him like a dart. Goku continued to back pedal, quickly pulling out a kunai and parrying the blade with his own; sparks flying from his defense.

19 leapt off of his right foot and shot at Goku, smirking when the boy suddenly tripped backwards, throwing his other arm out and catching him by the ankle with his spiked chain. He wrapped his other hand around his wrist and used his core strength to twist his body, swinging Goku around in a circle through the air. The saiyan's head was swimming and his eyes filling with tears as he was repeatedly as the wind crashed against his face, and to make matters worse there was a terrible ringing in his ear that was only getting progressively louder. He tried to place his cut up palms over his hears to stop the terrible ringing, grinding his teeth together, but every sound he made, or heard was being augmented to terrible levels.

K looked on from the stands with a furrowed brow trying to see 19's end game with this move. Spinning Goku through the air was going to wear on him eventually. The other Otogakure Genin who was present in the spectator area with him had a smirk on her face, which made him raise a brow. Instead of asking her what was going on, he simply continued watching because he didn't feel like talking at the moment.

19 came to a sudden halt and let Goku go flying into the wall of the arena. He bounced off the wall, hit the ground with an unhealthy thud and didn't get up. The proctor twitched and turned his head to Goku. He let a few seconds go by and he, as well as the whole crowd smirked when he saw Goku coming to a wobbly stand, "These kids are insane." He took a step back and let it continue while Goku tried to regain his bears. The boy looked completely exhausted and could barely walk when he attempted to. Goku's body swayed back and forth but he had to resort to leaning up against the arena wall to keep from falling.

The saiyan grit his teeth as he suppressed the pain. He fell down to one knee and placed a hand on his head. He let out a pained groan when his head started swimming, the sounds around him blending together and forming a nasty screech. Surely this had to be some sort of jutsu, because there was no way this would be happening to him normally. He attempted another step forward but he was beginning to feel dizzy as he walked.

"Son-kun," 19 cooed with a smile as he slowly approached Goku, "This fight is over and you know it." Goku collapsed right at his feet and 19 lifted his foot, pressing it down on his stomach and grinning. "Forfeit while you still can, or it will get terribly worse." He pressed down even harder and chuckled as Goku coughed and struggled to breathe.

To the crowd it looked the fight was coming to a close and 19 would advance to the next round, even the proctor was worried about Goku at this point. The match wouldn't be called until one of them forfeited or was knocked out, so he there was nothing he could do. Even his teammate Mao had a worried expression on her face, looking at Master Roshi for answers, "Is this even allowed, he's torturing Son-kun," she asked with a frown.

"It's meant to simulate a real battle so, yes," Master Roshi said with a frown as well. "Enemies will do whatever they can to get information." Regardless of the rules, he was still concerned about his student. Whatever jutsu 19 was using was seriously affecting the boy.

"He's done," Sasuke said as he watched the match closely, which caught the attention to the saiyan sitting in the same row.

Vegeta shook his head, "You know nothing you impudent human." Any one with decent self-esteem wouldn't take that insult lightly, and Sasuke instantly turned his head to glare at Vegeta, which the saiyan didn't think anything of. He continued to make his point, "Saiyans have something similar to what you simple beings would call a kekkei genkai. When we're put in a near death situation, we unlock a new level of power. He may not be the ideal saiyan like I am, but he's a saiyan nonetheless and Kakarot will have access to more power than any of you will ever have when his back is against the wall."

19 dropped down and pinned Goku to the ground, placing his hand firmly around his throat. Goku's eyes widened once he realized what was going, remembering the story of Hinata and also seeing all those lifeless husks in the forest. 19 had the ability to absorb chakra through his hands and he was currently being gripped by the Otogakure genin. He lifted his hand and wrapped his hand around 19's wrist trying to pry his fingers off, but the boy's grip only got stronger, and his own got weaker. 19 shifted his position and got behind Goku, using his other arm to wrap around the boy's neck and placing that hand on his bicep.

Goku tried his best to break free of the choke hold, but he slowly felt the flow of his blood being stopped. He remembered this hold from training with his Grandfather Gohan and sometimes the Raikage, and he knew how to avoid it, but whatever 19 had done was tampering with his reaction time. To make the hold even more lethal, he could feel the chakra being drained out of his body and being transferred to 19 through his hands. He only had a few seconds before he went unconscious or even worse died, but he was positive 19 would stay within the exam guidelines.

Things were beginning to go black and he was almost certain that he was going to pass out, but as 19 was choking Goku to sleep his head twitched twice and ended up looked at his skin. It felt like something was crawling underneath, and after a few seconds it started bulging before exploding with blood and spraying into his face. He let go of his hold and stumbled backward while Goku was experiencing the sweet joy of oxygen refilling his lungs. 19's skin didn't stop there; an explosion of blood popped out of his other arm and even happened on other parts of his body.

With his chakra reserves almost empty, Goku didn't have much time to play around. He twisted around and put a good distance between he and 19 while his skin was literally exploding, "This is my chance." He needed to generate enough power to knock 19 _completely_ out, and luckily his new sensei Minato had invented a way for him to do so with a smaller scale version of Kaio-ken that thrived off of him mixing his chakra with his natural energy. He shut his eyes and focused his energy, since he also learned that gathering natural energy or simply ki was second nature to him, which amazed Minato. The hard part was mixing it with his chakra reserves.

Since there was so little chakra for him to work with it, it wasn't complicated this time around. 19, growing frustrated with the sudden turn of events sprung off of his foot and launched himself right at Goku. The explosions under his skin halted when he fully broke away from contact with Goku, and he furrowed his brow when he felt a new aura wash over the boy once he regained his breath. He wanted to know what caused his chakra absorption technique to malfunction, letting the chain built into his arm slither out, and pulling his arm back to whip it across Goku's face, but the moment the boy opened his eyes; he disappeared from 19's sight.

The world slowed down to a crawl for Goku when he saw 19 in his face, now using his bolstered reaction time to slip out of the way of the direct charge. Goku reappeared behind 19 and grabbed his chain, able to handle the pain now and pulled back on it. With his free hand he smashed it into 19's face and sent him flying across the arena. He went through a series of hand seals and substituted his ki for his chakra to make the jutsu work, taking a deep breath and exhaling a giant ball of fire that went to follow after 19. However, he wasn't done yet, bringing his hands to his side and gathering more ki for another follow up attack while chanting, "Ka-me-ha-me-ha!" The ki between his two palms began to expand out of control and he let all of the energy go at once.

The fire ball crashed into 19 and the Kamehameha followed quickly after and pinned him to the wall with ease. 19 fell to the ground, his body burnt so bad that he almost looked black compared to his usual snow white skin. There was so much damage all around his body his regeneration factor focused on the vitals first before something he could actually use in a fight. Even after nearly being burned alive he was still able to at least get to his knee. He had one hand supporting him on the ground and the other clutching on his stomach. He lifted his head and saw Goku approaching him, and he finally saw how different the boy looked.

His eyes were a deep color of crimson; it almost looked like a strong flame was burning within his orbs behind his pupils. Goku grinned as he walked up and opened his palm, creating a ball of ki and holding it right in front of 19's face, "You give up?" He asked while tilting his head. There was nothing but silence between them for a moment, but then he suddenly heard a beating noise, and then lowered his hands when he saw something bulge in 19's throat. He didn't want to stick around and see whatever _it_ was and leapt away. It wasn't an attack like he anticipated, instead an entire wave was vomited out of his mouth and Goku nearly got washed up in it.

He flipped backward and stuck to the wall, watching the newly created wave crash against the wall. Goku searched around for any sight of 19, but from what he could see he was still under the water. He wasn't sure if this was apart of some plan or 19 was currently freaking out, but the match still hadn't been called so he had to stay on his toes. His previous injuries were slowly recovering and he could probably take 19 head on now with no problems.

The waves continued to grow and crash against each other, to the point that the proctor, who had now found a safe high ground looked up to his higher ups for some kind of direction. There was no instruction to end the match so he grit his teeth and let it continue. Goku didn't know what to do, since 19 was no where to be found. He flew through a set of a seals for the moment and readied himself for when 19 did turn up, however he lost his footing all of sudden when the _entire_ arena shook and ended up falling into the ever growing pool of water created by 19. When he was underneath he saw 19's body slowly floating to the surface in the center, but before he went back up he saw four roots sticking out of his back and connecting with the ground.

He swam upward and stood on the surface of the constantly crashing water, trying to get a hold of what was going on. From what he saw, 19 wasn't even conscious, so that had to mean the match was over. Goku looked at the proctor for some kind of confirmation and the proctor turned his head to his superiors, receiving a nod from the stands. He leapt from where he was and landed on the water, lifting Goku's arm into the air since it looked like 19 was out of commission, "Winner Son G—" another shake of the arena cut his sentence short and now the entire crowd was on high alert. "Get the medic teams down here righ-" A vine suddenly whipped out from under water and wrapped around the proctor's throat, pulling him under the water and killing him instantly once it constricted.

Goku was next on its list, a vine whipping out just as quick as before, but the boy burned it to a blaze before he suffered the same fate as the proctor. He ran across the water avoiding all the vines that were shooting out at him, and nearly lost his footing when he felt something else rumbling underneath the surface of the water. When he looked up he saw a vine shooting right at him, and even more coming from different directions. He nosedived under the water and made all the vines crash into each other. His eyes widened when he saw Hayate's lifeless body still wrapped up by the vines, and started swimming toward it. Once he got close he saw that the life had literally been sucked out of him as well, not feeling an ounce of chakra left.

The proctor being killed didn't stun him as much as what he saw next.

 **XxX**

 **Next chapter will be better and longer, just didn't want to keep you waiting.**


	41. Forty One

**41**

Even underneath the water Goku could feel the ground rumbling. His eyes were constantly averting between Hayate's dead body trapped in the vines and 19 beginning to be encased by the wood that was growing out of the ground. Even more trees suddenly sprouted out of the ground and shot Goku from out the water and into the air. Instead of free falling back toward the ground, he felt himself dangling over the arena battleground. He could see a mini forest growing within it, with a large tree in the center; holding 19's body with vines connecting to his stomach.

While he was still hanging above the arena, Goku asked himself, "Am I flying?" His body was lifted up higher and his head twisted back to see his sensei holding him by the collar of his shirt, "K!" He latched onto K's leg and started laughing, "Ha long time no see!" The last time he had any real time with his sensei was when he began his training for this portion of this exam.

K rolled his eyes and tried to refocus his brain on the task at hand. Not having to deal with Goku's antics for weeks, he got used to silence and an unusual lack of foolishness. He looked down on the constantly changing battle ground of the arena and then shifted his eyes toward opposite side of the village, "We need to leave." He alerted his student and was about to make his move, but when he shifted his body to take off flying using his wind manipulation a vine whipped through the air and wrapped around his ankle. Both Kumo shinobi were plummeting to the ground and Goku let go of K's leg and crashed through multiple branches.

He nearly went back under the water but Goku stuck to the base of the tree and quickly climbed back up to get a better aerial view. Before he was attacked again he scoped the field and saw the trees constantly mutating and growing, and the tree holding 19 getting gradually taller. He couldn't just leave like K wanted, as childish as it was to think; he wanted to see the extent of his new jutsu Minato created. When a branch came shooting at him trying to wrap around his body he shot to the side, using his fire Chakra to propel himself in the opposite direction. He picked up how to do it by simply observing K, and as soon he shot upward as the branches and vines honed in on him. They twisted around each other and turned into a deadly tendril, trying to stab Goku repeatedly.

Luckily K had escaped the bind he was in and assisted Goku with his wind chakra, shooting out sharp bullets of air with his mouth and slicing through the Mokuton created tendril. The man flew across the field, dodging all the weaponized vegetation shooting at him and grabbing Goku once again, "I said we're leaving." He looked over his shoulder and watched Konoha Jounin and Chunin jumping into the fray, some of them being killed instantly by the giant tree wrapping around their throats and holding them in the air. He furrowed his brow watching the life being sucked out of them when they came in contact with the wood release.

"The tree is absorbing their chakra," Goku informed K as he wrestled himself free from K's hold. "We have to stop it, because if it keeps growing it might catch somebody from Kumogakure while they're trying to escape. It might even reach Kumogakure if it keeps growing." Goku was floating next to K using his fire chakra to sustain himself.

"Don't be foolish," K didn't want to admit how impressed he was by Goku dissecting his flight technique so easily, and the semi-realistic point he was making. The tree definitely wouldn't grow all the way to Kumo but it would make escaping troublesome. It was capable of fighting off multiple enemies as shown, even as he planned a possible escape, giants hands made of wood shot out of the ground and tried to smash he and Goku between its palms. Using his wind chakra to keep the hands from coming together, and Goku propelling himself from between the hands toward the giant tree in the center.

He joined the Konoha ninja in flying through hand seals and taking a deep breath, followed by exhaling a giant ball of fire that were all focused on the main tree. Instead of it burning to a crisp like they all expected it absorbed their attacks and shot it right back at them, he flew out of the way and kept avoiding vines while doing so. More ninja were grabbed by the constantly whipping vines and drained of their chakra, the main tree growing even bigger. The saiyan maneuvered through it with ease and tried get closer to 19 but a giant fist made of wood shot out from the center tree and punched him into the stands.

He almost broke his back from the impact and the seats began to cave in on him. Lucky for him a Konoha ninja with gravity defying white hair held a slab of debris up from crushing the young saiyan, "Come on kid, even you need to evacuate. This is our problem now," Kakashi reached in and pulled Goku out of the newly created pit before turning his head to the two kids waiting for instruction from him. "Naruto, Sasuke, we need to find Jiraiya." Goku watched as the trio took off and left him where he sat. The brief moment of silence was cut short when even more bodies crash landed into the stadium stands, the others not as fortunate as Goku and being killed by the debris falling and crushing them.

The saiyan boy pushed himself to a stand suddenly when a large wood tendril tried to impale him, he rolled out of the way and watched as it dug into the arena and established a foothold. The Mokuton mutated wood started to branch out and grow into a tree in the middle of the stands, tearing through the ceiling and continuing to grow. Goku leapt back into the arena and took flight with his fire manipulation and maneuvered through more tendrils trying to attack him.

Konoha shinobi were yelling, "Ninjutsu won't work against it, we need to find another way!" Goku was constantly flying around the arena trying to avoid being stabbed through a vital spot or having his chakra drained, meeting up with K above all the mess. The man suddenly grabbed him around the neck and pulled him close.

As they were flying, Goku lifted his hand and noticed he had a green aura radiating off of him. He looked up at K and noticed the same radiating off of him, "I'm transferring my ki to you. Chakra doesn't work but natural energy does." When K stopped glowing and Goku was overflowing with natural energy, K suddenly let him drop to the ground toward the center tree. "Finish this, Goku."

 **XxX**

With the entire village in disarray, the remainder of the military force was looking for guidance from their leader. After twenty straight minutes of sending troops in to combat the great tree and only getting dead soldiers in return, it was time to change the game plan. A majority of the higher level shinobi throughout the village were occupied with something unknown, and now a lone Konohamaru was left to search for his grandfather. He managed to slip away from the crowd, even the jounin that were currently evacuating the village.

The boy heard a lot of loud crashes from the other side of the stadium as he ran through the hallways. The academy student leapt over a sudden branch that shot through the wall of the arena and rooted itself into the ground. The rampaging mokuton technique was beginning to take over the whole arena, as he tried to keep ascending to the sky box where his grandfather was last seen.

He cut around the corner and ran up the flights of stairs as fast as his adrenaline fueled legs could take him. The higher levels were completely destroyed, full of wood that was all rooted into something he couldn't quite see. Even the ninja that didn't jump into the battle had branches wrapped around their throats with pale, dried to skin. The boy furrowed his brow, "they've been sucked dry?" He asked no one in particular, the sight of the next hall being full of dead bodies bringing him to a sudden standstill.

Konohamaru covered his mouth and stumbled backwards. So many ninja that he saw around the village had been killed already, and now the death toll had grown even higher, "What's going on?" He saw the match, when 19 suddenly freaked out, but how did it turn into all of this?

While he was distracted by the devastation, a branched managed to wrap around his ankle and quickly started dragging him down the hall. Since he was only an academy student he didn't have an actual weapon on him outside of school, and his sling shot couldn't do much for him in this situation. The boy tried to pry his ankle out, feeling thorns spike out of it and dig into his skin. He hissed in pain, thinking he was about to suffer the same fate as these other ninja, but he suddenly hit the ground with a thud.

He was disconnected from the branch, watching it slither back into the wall. Konohamaru closed his eyes and bit his lip, tearing up a bit as he pulled the thorned part of the branch out of his ankle. He was breathing hard once he realized how deep the wound was, starting to regret coming to look alone. When he opened his eyes he started to wonder just how he broke free, but when he looked to his side he saw a still buzzing chakra blade on the ground, and when he looked up to see Asuma with a frown on his face as he looked down on him.

"I had a bad feeling in my gut too, kid," He said as he took a drag of his cigarette, offering his hand to his nephew. Konohamaru accepted it and brought himself to a stand. "Something ain't right about all this."

Konohamaru frowned as he looked up at his uncle. They continued on in silence, the older man not even questioning his nephew why he wasn't evacuating since the situation was turning so dire. The entire chain of command was out of whack, no one had heard from the Hokage, Shimura Danzo, the rest of the council or any ANBU members. The last place the man was seen was in his sky booth at the arena, which the two Sarutobi's were currently approaching.

Asuma's knuckle blades immediately radiated with energy and elongated with a shroud of chakra. He motioned for Konohamaru to stay back as he pressed his back against the wall before he rolled into the room to do a quick sweep.

There were no enemies.

He stood frozen when his eyes lowered to the puddle of blood leaking from a body that was covered by a pile of debris. Asuma immediately rushed over and dug through to rubble so he could identify the body, his chest feeling heavy when he tugged on the blood stained white robes of the man he knew as his father. He tilted his head back and sat there in silence as he stared into the now

lifeless eyes of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Asuma grit his teeth and pulled his father out even further from the rubble. He examined his wounds and there were hardly any on his body that would _kill_ him, his eyes being drawn to still fresh blood dripping from his forehead. There was a gaping hole right above his brow, and as he looked closer there seemed to be a piece of metal stuck in his father's head. He didn't have time to fully process it because he heard his nephew enter the room, and he now had to break the news, "Konohamaru…"

There were a few muffled sobs but Konohamaru puffed his chest out with a pained smile, "I-i know, but we got bigger things to worry about right now!" He said as he walked over and placed a hand on Asuma's shoulder. The older man nodded and stood up, holding the Hokage's body bridal style, "What do we do now?"

Before they could continue a loud crash sounded throughout the entire village followed by a still silence.

 **XxX**

Mai had her back against the wall and a giant alien rifle pressed against her chest. She was sweating profusely, with a whole lot of adrenaline rushing through her body. Her part of the mission given to her by the Tsuchikage was complete, and that feeling of 'liberation' and 'pride' for her country wasn't flowing through her body like she thought it would be. Truthfully she felt guilty, killing the most powerful man in the elemental nations for a political game.

Now she was in a building surrounded by lurking Konoha shinobi who were wondering where the loud 'thunder clap' noise came from. When she heard rampant foot steps inching closer and closer to her location, she hoisted the giant rifle on her back and strapped it on, reaching to her waist to draw a pistol made completely from alien tech. She raised it and took a deep breath, before kicking the door down and charging into the hallway.

It was full of shinobi, but she wasted no time. Point, aim, shoot, and repeat. The little girl was an expert marksman, shooting between their eyes and rushing through the hall as they fell to the ground with a thud.

There was a kunai suddenly flying in her direction, the person aiming for between her eyes as well, but she was quicker to draw her weapon and fire off a round that changed the trajectory of the knife. It stabbed into the wall, and before she knew it there were four shuriken coming in her direction too, this time she simply used the weapon itself to deflect the throwing stars, and then roll out of the way of a flying kick as her assailant revealed himself.

Mai grit her teeth and backpedaled as the man tried to rush in and engage her in close range combat. That was a fight she would most definitely lose, parrying his strikes with her forearms as he tried to knock her pistol out of her hand. The girl maneuvered swiftly and placed the barrel of the gun right underneath his chin. She could see the sweat drip down the side of his face the moment she pressed her finger down on the trigger and blew his brains everywhere in the hallway.

She stumbled backwards and tried to wipe the blood off her face. Her main goal was to stay discreet until Raditz and Vegeta arrived to get her out of the building, but they were apparently running late. With all the noise her pistol was making she was sure there were more Konoha shinobi closing in on her location. The girl placed her hands around her temples and started to panic, "I'm going to die- no get it together," she let her hands fall to her side and tightened her grip on the pistol. "The Tsuchikage chose you for a reason," she said to herself and started running toward the staircase that brought her to the highest level of the building.

She took each step with caution, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was completely dead on the inside of the building since 19 lost control, villagers were evacuating and higher ranking shinobi were in the arena tending to the problem. Mai's main focus was making it out alive.

The girl had done away with the last of the shinobi trying to figure out where the shots came from. She was getting close to the ground level she came in on, pressing her back against the wall and scooting slowly toward the exit. With a gentle nudge from her hand she pushed the door open, and instead of daylight peeking through, it almost looked like a storm.

The street she was on was completely dead, quite literally. Nothing but fallen soldiers on each side slumped against the walls of buildings. The girl took a few cautious steps forward with her gun raised in front of her, just in case something or _someone_ wanted to jump out and catch her with her guard down. The sounds of battle were off in the distance, closer to the gates, so she quietly pieced together how to move until she found a way to contact Vegeta and Raditz.

With no signs of life for at least a few miles, Mai decided to pick up the pace and ran down the street and turned the corner. She almost had a heart attack when she was swooped off of the ground and airborne in less than a second. It was exact person who she was looking for; Vegeta. Raditz was speedily following after them, and there was another speedy blur trailing both saiyans that she couldn't make out. Despite how fast things were moving, the saiyans seemed completely calm, "What is going on!?"

"Make yourself useful girl, shoot!" Vegeta barked right back at her.

The adrenaline rush from earlier quickly reactivated, her shaky hands getting steady and her aim was already set on the blur that was starting to become clear. It was a blue haired woman wearing a black and red cloak with wings protruding from her back chasing them through the skies of Konoha. Mai obviously didn't have time to ask questions, so she shut one of her eyes and pressed her finger down on the trigger.

In an instant Konan was dropping to the ground like there was a weight attached to her ankle. Mai was almost overcome with joy until she noticed that there was no blood, and the woman was breaking apart into hundreds of sheets of paper, "Please tell me she's supposed to do tha—"

In mere moments the trio of Iwa shinobi were surrounded by paper bombs, they all ticked down and exploded, knocking them around the sky, and eventually sending them all crashing down to the ground. Vegeta and Mai hit the ground with a thud and Raditz followed right after, all three of them bloodied from the combined impact of the explosions and hitting the pavement hard. Mai was breathing extremely hard and Vegeta violently threw her off of him as he pushed himself to a stand.

The bits of a paper started to reform and Konan reappeared in the middle of the street, "Don't make this harder than it has to be, child," She said to Vegeta as he prepared to continue fighting with the Akatsuki member. "You and I both know you do not belong on this planet, it is time for you to return home." Her brow furrowed when Vegeta smirked.

"There is no home for Saiyans anymore you ignorant earthling," Vegeta spat out, "This will be my planet soon."

Konan nodded, "Very well, you'll be the first Saiyan I arrest in this forthcoming purge of the aliens."

 **XxX**

Jiraiya bounced from roof top to roof top with a furrowed brow. The grand entrance he planned to make in the Chunin Exams was ruined the moment he stepped foot in the village. He didn't even make it to the arena before 19 exploded and turned into a giant tree. The last he checked, his sensei was holding down that part of whatever surprise battle had been induced, while he sent a fleet of men to help evacuate and hold down the gate.

They were supposed to send some form of update, but he hadn't heard from them since this fiasco had started. As he was making his way toward the gates, he was nearly knocked off of his path by someone moving just as fast as him. He only caught a glimpse of said person, their face being covered by a shemagh, but he saw hints of green skin. The next moving figure passed by in a blur of black and red as well, making the man pause as he watched them disappear to the other side of the village in the blink of an eye, "What the hell is going on here?"

He took a moment to actually turn full circle, and Konoha was in worse condition than he originally thought. There were billows of smoke rising into the air, multiple explosions going off throughout the village, giant white birds flying through the sky, and of course an unnatural tree growing even bigger coming from the arena. His head swiveled back to the direction of the gates, which were now in sight, and he saw _all_ of the shinobi he sent to guard the gates lying underneath said gates that had been toppled over.

Wondering what could have caused all of this; his answer was a few hundred feet away from the gate. Extremely large machines that looked built for none other than war and destruction were approaching. They were big and boxy, and on the front it was a giant cannon that was currently being configured to aim right at him. There were five more right behind it . He looked down at the ground and saw wide marks that could have only been caused by wheels attached to that same heavy machine. Jiraiya's eye widened when he realized the village was currently being invaded, which made him wonder how much of this situation was an accident, and how much was intended.

"I'd move if I were you, human," A voice bellowed through an intercom, speaking to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya smirked, "Human," He laughed to himself. "So I finally get to fight an alien?"

A panel on the roof of the war machine opened up and a smaller figure floated right out and landed on the path to the already destroyed gates. He was about the same size of Sasuke, wearing clothes more suited for a trip to the desert, and a shemagh to cover his face, "This is my village now, until my father can properly make his return to his throne." He slowly removed the shemagh and revealed his green skin and strong facial features, and what looked to be an almost permanent scowl plastered on his face. "This is your last chance to move out of my way."

"Why not run me over with one of your fancy rolling machines, gaki?" Jiraiya questioned.

"I know you're stronger than that," Junior said with something of a smirk.

Jiraiya nodded.

"Now, let's get started."

 **XxX**

 **I'll pull it all together next chapter, which is coming out Monday. I promise.**


	42. The Fall Of Konoha: Jiraiya's Story

**42**

 **The Fall Of Konoha: Jiraiya's Story (1/4)**

Despite one of the strongest shinobi in the history of Konoha standing at the gate guarding it personally, Junior ordered for his fleet of tanks to move forward. The loud sounds of machines kicking back into gear filled the area and he slowly floated off of the ground, "This is your last chance." He said to the toad sage who stared blankly in return at him and his tanks. "Fearless, I admire that," He turned his back on Jiraiya as if he were nothing more than a bystander and started moving back toward the tank that he came out of.

Jiraiya laughed to himself at the young alien's confidence. He lifted his hand and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood, then slapped it on the ground, which caused an extremely large puff of smoke to appear. This was enough to gain Junior's attention, as he turned around to be making direct eye contact with none other than the boss toad: Gamabunta.

" **You better have a good reason for summoning me, Jiraiya,** " The giant toad bellowed out as he continued smoking out of his pipe despite being summoned into a situation.

Jiraiya, who was safely situated on top of Bunta's head frowned, "Yeah, Konoha is being destroyed from the inside out. Is that a good enough reason?" He raised his brow while looking down on the giant toad, "I need you to protect the gate, starting with destroying those… _things_." The man didn't know the proper name for the giant war machines that were still rolling in his direction.

Without any further conversation, Gamabunta whipped his blade out of the sheath and smashed the first machine in his line of sight, but was surprised and a bit dissatisfied when the contraption didn't immediately explode like he intended to. His arm actually bounced back after trying to attack the strong layer of armor built onto the machine. He frowned slightly when he saw the cannon built onto the front aiming right at his face, surprising Junior and his fleet of war machines with his agility as he bounced out of the way of a large cannon ball.

Jiraiya turned his head for a brief second, his eyes following the path of the cannon ball, watching it crash into a building and then violently explode; destroying a portion of the village along with it. He wanted to be happy he avoided the massive explosion that followed, but thinking of the innocent lives that were probably hiding out made him cringe, "We can't let that happen again, Bunta." His attention was turned back to the task at hand, as he leapt off of the giant toad's head and instantly started charging at the first tank, holding his hand out as he gathered his chakra and a ball of energy came to life.

The same cannon that just destroyed a sector of the village was now aiming right at him, but he continued to charge. Now that he was close he could see it powering up and getting ready to blast, but still not refraining from jumping right at it and thrusting his arm forward with his fully charged Rasengan. The second cannon ball tried to shoot but clashed right against Jiraiya's ball of energy. The man let out a pained yell as he exerted more effort to push the cannon ball right back down the barrel, and it worked, winning the battle of supremacy, but was ultimately sent flying back right before it blew up and sent chunks of metal flying everywhere.

Gamabunta caught Jiraiya and threw him into the air so he wouldn't be caught in the explosion that ensued, while he protected his face and chest with his arms. Jiraiya flipped in mid air and landed perfectly on Gamabunta's head, "One down, five—" The sage was suddenly thrown off of Gamabunta's head after a fiery blur slammed into him and sent him into the actual village, he crashed against the ground and kicked up a lot of dust as he struggled to get up. He lifted his head and saw Junior's desert garb scorched, purple blood seeping through it as well. "You look like hell, gaki!" Jiraiya said with a hearty laugh as he finally came to a stand.

Junior had nothing to say in return, removing his shemagh and tossing it to the ground, as well as the desert garb that he wore over his purple gi. His eyes were fierce, and Jiraiya could clearly see he angered the adolescent alien. The extra-terrestrial shot forward with great speed and extended his arm forward. It stretched out and suddenly Jiraiya had a green hand wrapped firmly around his throat. The sage didn't get a chance to pry the boy's hands off of him because Junior slammed him on the ground repeatedly and let him go.

The alien quickly flew through hand signs and as he landed on the ground, slapping his hands against the pavement and manipulated it with his chakra. A platform rose underneath Jiraiya and started sliding toward Ma Junior, which prompted Jiraiya to jump into the air right before Junior smashed his fist where he would have been. His eyes widened when he saw the entire ground split where his fist connected with it, and the only other person he knew with that kind of strength was Tsunade. Much like her it seemed effortless too.

Before he could even hit the ground, Junior threw out his other hand and stretched his arm far enough to grab Jiraiya by his forearm and pull him in hard. The white haired sage wasted no time forming a Rasengan in his free hand in the blink of an eye, smashing it right in the center of Junior's chest. He didn't even cringe as bits of meat and his purple blood splattered all over his face. The adolescent was sent flying back, crashing through multiple buildings.

Something in the pit of his stomach told him to go confirm his kill, swiftly drawing a kunai from his equipment pouch as he strolled cautiously to where Junior landed. As he stepped through the newly created hole he heard everything he wanted to hear, pained groans, struggles to stand, and a piece of debris falling in his favor to pin Junior down. "Here's a little lesson for you, gaki," Jiraiya said as he walked up to the downed alien, "Unless you're a beautiful lady, pulling in the Great Toad Sage is deadly."

Junior had no words for Jiraiya, spitting out a wad of purple blood right onto his face and continued to breathe heavily.

Jiraiya wiped the blood off of his face and nodded solemnly, "I get it, I'd be mad too." He stood over the alien and exchanged glares for a moment before stabbing his kunai into Junior's neck to guarantee his death. Jiraiya took a deep breath and stumbled backward as he instantly started thinking about everything else going awry in the village. He turned his back on Junior and started walking out of the hole he created, but the moment he felt the entire building shaking he turned his head.

Before he could fully react, a piercing yellow beam hit his back and sent him flying, and eventually pierced through his back and out his chest. Jiraiya's vision got hazy, nearly blacking out, but a rush of adrenaline washed over him when his body was turned around and he was staring right at Ma Junior. He had a demonic smile on his face, blood still dripping from his neck onto Jiraiya's forehead, "Here's a little lesson for you, human," The boy said as he inched closer to Jiraiya's face, "Turning your back on the Demon King's son, Piccolo Jr., is deadly."

The alien stood up straight, laughing out loud since it seemed he just claimed victory on one of Konoha's most prestigious shinobi. His body was slowly regenerating itself back to normal as he cackled like a mad man, "The Great Toad Sage," He snickered to himself as he looked down on the heavily injured Jiraiya. "It was cute of you to defend your village, but it belongs to me now."

"You might want to look up."

Piccolo Jr. continued on, ignoring Jiraiya, "I don't see what my father wants with this village, but I must say it's been entertain—"

The pained toad sage repeated himself, "You might want to look up."

 **XxX**

The tanks continued to roll forward and Jiraiya left Gamabunta to guard the gate. The giant toad couldn't say he was enjoying the way things were transpiring, but he had no choice. He adjusted his grip on his large tanto and leapt right into battle with the next five approaching tanks. They tried to swerve around him, but the chief toad pounced on the first one in line, and smashed his blade into the ground to disrupt the other four's path.

Despite him being a massive creature, it still wasn't enough to crush the machine. He looked to his right and saw that the remaining tanks were trying to circle him, which made him grin. With an impressive show of strength, he picked up the tank he was standing up off of the ground and lifted it over his head. He started to leap away from the gate so he could move the battle away from the village and ensure the safety of it's inhabitants, and so he wouldn't hear Jiraiya's mouth about later on.

Naturally the other four tanks followed since a part of their fleet was being spirited away by a giant toad. Gamabunta spun on his heel and when it seemed like he was far enough out; he spewed oil out from his mouth, covering the tanks and ground with the substance, and watching them slide out of control. He then chucked the giant war machine he was holding over his head at the remaining four, in hopes of causing a huge explosion once it crashed against the ground, but instead the tank rolled over a few times while sliding speedily through his oil trap, before coming to a stop. It spun back around robotically and now all five tanks were focused on him.

Gamabunta furrowed his brow, "So much for that." As he prepared his next attack, he was taken aback by what was transpiring in front of him. The tanks lined up along each other and started connecting. Each passing second the machine was getting taller, and starting to be structured like a humanoid figure. Two tanks were used as the feet, new parts sprouting out to create the legs from the core tank, and two more transforming into the arms. Finally a head rose out of the top of the core tank, and a pulsating capsule corps logo protruding from the 'chest' of it. It lifted its arm and a hand emerged, dropping a small item to the ground and it made a popping noise.

"Hmmm, don't just stand there froggy!"

Before Gambunta could figure out what exactly had been dropped on the ground, he leapt backwards and guarded his face once a sudden string of explosions rung out right in front of him. He slid on his heels and came to a stop, narrowing his eyes as he saw crows flocking out of the explosion, and the figure of a man wearing a cloak. The figure disappeared, but as the smoke cleared he saw what dropped on the ground.

A giant sword for the mecha had been summoned from the capsule, and it magnetically flew it into its hand once it opened its palm. It was about to charge forward and swing, but Gamabunta slid out of the way in the nick of time. He leapt away from the mecha and it rolled after him in pursuit.

"CATCH, FROGGY!"

Bunta's head swiveled quickly, nearly blindsided by his own tanto. He caught it out of the air and instantly parried a downward chop from the mecha with his blade, sparks flying everywhere. There was a brief power struggle, but the machine's strength started to show as Gamabunta started to slide across the ground. The giant toad heard the same voice from afar that nearly killed him with his own tanto growing closer by the second, only seeing a blur as he saw a figure crash into the center of the mecha's chest, sending it flying back, " **What the hell are you made out of?** "

The pale figure started to regain his color, grinning from cheek to cheek while looking up Gamabunta, "Some good st—"

"Focus," A voice sounded off from above Gamabunta, making him realize there was someone standing on his head.

"Ok, Itach-"

The mecha reappeared quicker than anticipated, stabbing its sword into the ground right where the pale man was standing. Gamabunta didn't budge an inch to avenge the little guy, instead seizing the moment to spring forward and drive his tanto right through the capsule corp logo on its chest, identifying it as its source of power, and also its weak point. Sparks of electricity were flying everywhere as Gamabunta twisted his tanto within the machine, but just as he was about to fully power it down; the machine lost its footing and his sword slipped right out of the machine's chest.

What caused it was Yeruslan lifting the giant mecha's sword and tossing the machine back. His smile never faded as he shot off of the ground once more and attached himself to the machine's chest. From the inside of his cloak, slithered out a pale white snake that went inside the machine, while Yeruslan himself crawled to the head and clenched his hands tightly on parts of the machine's neck. The head of the machine looked down and locked onto Yeruslan, it's eyes lighting up; getting ready to attack, but suddenly went dark when the sound of something being split from within entered the alien's ears.

Yeruslan grinned even harder, as he dug his hands into the machine's neck and pulled as hard as he could. He could hear wires and important bolts within the mechanism coming loose. The color was slowly draining from his face as he exerted even more effort, but finally pulled the head of the mecha off and threw it backwards to who knows where. Yeruslan climbed up the machine and dropped into the newly created hole.

Itachi watched from on top of Gamabunta as his partner threw out multiple men who were operating the tanks. He took note of the burgundy garbs and obvious Iwagakure insignia on their headbands and clothing, "Iwa is conspiring with the aliens to take over Konoha," he deduced, as he leapt off of the giant toad's head. He approached them slowly as more bodies were piled on top of each other like dirty laundry. His partners jumped out of the machine and landed on the opposite of the pile they created of knocked out shinobi. "Transfer them to the base."

"Why, there just some humans, Itachi-kun," Yeruslan said as he scratched his head.

"Trust me on this," The Uchiha said a bit more authority in his voice. The sounds of popping made Itachi turn around, seeing a large plume of smoke that signified Gamabunta had been called back to Mt. Myōboku, "We need to subdue the leader and push back this invasion, let's go."

 **XxX**

The whistling sound of something moving fast through the sky filled Piccolo Jr's ears, causing him to shift his neck upward and stare in awe as the head of a mecha was about to drop right on top of him. He had no choice but to leap forward, lest he be crushed by his own machine. As he hit the ground he slid out of control, immediately noticing that his clothes were covered in a strange oil. He crashed into the wall of a building hard, shoulder first.

He pushed off the wall and dusted himself off aggressively, approaching the head of the mecha full of anger when he say his sibling climbing out of it bloodied and battered, "Can you not handle a TOAD, Tambourine!?"

Tambourine spat out blood on the ground, running his hands over the multiple wounds in his abdomen caused from the Mecha head nearly caving in on itself once Yeruslan threw it. He was fuming with anger, similar to Piccolo Jr, "It wasn't the toad, it was those damn humans!" He yelled back at Piccolo Jr.

"We are Namekians! The strongest race, I don't want to hear excuses," Piccolo Jr. replied quickly and roughly popped his shoulder back into place. He took a deep breath and re-centered himself, realizing he had bigger things to worry about other than his sorry sibling, "Enough. Where are the res-" The boy looked around, forgetting about his crew for a moment, and remembered the wily Toad Sage he was doing battle with.

Jiraiya watched from a higher point, behind the wall of a semi destroyed building as Piccolo Jr. and Tambourine instantly started scouting around the area for where he might have gone. It was hard to stay quiet, he had a serious wound he needed to tend to, and the most intelligent option would be to regroup with some of the higher ranking shinobi, so they could properly assess the threat.

The only problem with that was the chain of command had somehow been destroyed. Usually during an invasion; orders would be trickling down, but right now everything was out of whack.

Jiraiya took a deep breath, 'You can do this.'

His ears perked up when he heard wings flapping nearby, getting completely still so he wouldn't alert the Namekian. Very slowly, he reached into his pouch and rolled out a smoke bomb along the roof which went off. Naturally Tambourine went to investigate once smoking started to fill that area. Jiraiya moved as fast as he could across the roof and attempted to jump to the next one over, but a quick moving green blur interrupted him and tackled him out of the sky.

The white haired sage rolled across the Konoha streets roughly, but regained his bearings. He managed to jump up and slide to a stop, reaching into his pouch and throwing multiple shuriken in Piccolo Jr's direction. The Namekian avoided them swiftly and immediately rushed in toward the Sage, while his partner Tambourine suddenly swooped in from behind and tried to get the drop on the old man. Once they were in his proximity, Piccolo Jr. saw the man smirk, which made him want to stop, but momentum was already on the Sage's side.

Tendrils of white hair shot out in every direction, stabbing through both Namekian's in multiple points on their bodies. He was tightly protected by his hair wrapping around him, his arm suddenly sticking out with his palm open, and a blue ball of energy suddenly came to life. The needles stabbing through his enemy's bodies retracted and he immediately lunged at Piccolo Jr., ramming his Rasengan into his chest and sending him flying.

He spun on his heel and instantly gave Tambourine the same treatment, sending the winged namekian rolling down the street with his chest carved with the shape of a Rasengan. Jiraiya stumbled forth, the pain in his chest reminding him of the gaping hole created by Piccolo Jr. He couldn't stretch this fight on any longer, he needed medical attention desperately.

The sound of a powerful yell filling his ears made him turn around to see Piccolo Jr. with a strong aura radiating around him, "I'm sick of your games, human!"

Jiraiya grinned, entertained that he made the Namekian reach this point of anger. He beckoned the boy to come forth and finish the battle but a large overhead shadow flew over the area and it nearly went black where they were. Both of them looked up and Piccolo Jr. smiled, "Did you summon that?" He asked in awe as the immense shade still hadn't passed. Jiraiya immediately locked back on Piccolo Jr. when he saw the Namekian retreating, "Where the hell are you going!?"

The white haired sage was about to give chase, but the entire ground started to shake and threw him off balance. A green blur flew past him, but it stopped before it fully retreated. It was Tambourine, "You'll be dead soon enough, vermin!"

Jiraiya rolled over on the ground and tried to catch a glimpse of what exactly was flying over Konoha, "Is that a bird?"

 **XxX**

 **Part II on the way.**


	43. The Fall Of Konoha: Team 7

**43 - The Fall Of Konoha: Team 7**

Blood dripped down the length of his neck, the wire restricting him so tightly that he couldn't move his hands. Things were becoming darker in the already room alright lit by the small amount of sunlight that slipped through the doorway and half-open curtains. He could feel his face turning colors as he choked on his own blood and destroyed his breathing.

His view of the roof started to fade as his eyes rolled back into his head, but instead of falling over and dying; his lungs were immediately filled with air again. Sasuke took long and deep breaths, clutching at his neck as he searched for dripping blood from a bladed wire. There were no injuries, which made him let out a breath of disbelief.

With his mind in a frenzy he nearly forgot his objective, finding himself on the floor when he was once standing up. He slowly crawled to a stand and looked around, taking in his surroundings once more.

Sasuke was currently inside an abandoned room on the grounds of the Uchiha clan compound. Despite being told to go find any form of help by his sensei so they could re-establish a chain of command, he went straight to his compound. With the village looking like it was going to be on its last legs soon Sasuke went to find the last thing his family left for him before they were killed.

He felt around the wooden floor and tried to find the loose floor board he was told about, and as he spotted it and moved in closer to lift it up; blood dripped down the length of his neck, the wire restricting him so tightly that he couldn't move his hands. Things were becoming darker in the already room alright lit by the small amount of sunlight that slipped through the doorway and half-open curtains. He could feel his face turning colors as he choked on his own blood and destroyed his breathing.

His view of the roof started to fade as his eyes rolled back into his head, but instead of falling over and dying; his lungs were immediately filled with air again. Sasuke took long and deep breaths, clutching at his neck as he searched for dripping blood from a bladed wire. There were no injuries, which made him let out a breath of disbelief.

With his mind in a frenzy he nearly forgot his objective, finding himself on the floor when he was once standing up. This time he laid on the floor while staring at the ceiling with his sharingan eyes activated. The sensation that washed over his body when air filled his lungs again was familiar, and he realized this wasn't the first time it happened. In fact, it happened so many times he lost count, and for some reason he was just now able to break the cycle.

Every time he tried to open the floorboard he was stuck in a genjutsu that he couldn't seem to break fast enough to actually obtain what he came for. The boy sprung up off of the floor and left the room, trying to figure out if there was another angle he could approach from that wouldn't trigger the spell.

As he walked through the dark Uchiha hallway, it felt like the hall itself was becoming narrow. His feet immediately stopped, the walls closing on themselves ruined his chance of getting back to that room; instead finding himself in a contorted position staring at the roof. The walls continued to close in, the bones within his body cracking slowly and painfully.

Before he could pass out from the immense pain, the walls suddenly opened up again and he fell to the floor in a messy heap; breathing heavily and grasping at every bone he thought was just broken.

" **You should leave, Sasuke-kun,** " a voice suddenly sounded out, booming through the entire compound.

Sasuke looked up and around and saw nothing. He sprung up off of the floor quickly and immediately charged down the hallway full of anger, "SHOW YOURSELF!"

" **No, you'll be disappointed with what you see,** " the voice said with a chuckle.

Sasuke couldn't pinpoint it's location or even describe how the voice sounded. He continued to dash down the hall and out into the courtyard of his family's compound. He looked around rapidly trying to find the intruder that was playing tricks on his mind, instantly freezing in his tracks when he locked eyes on a figure calmly picking flowers with his back turned to him.

On the back of his garments, the Uchiha clan crest was stitched exactly like his. As Sasuke narrowed his eyes he realized whoever it was, was actually wearing the exact same thing down to the sandals, and as the figure rose up and turned to face him he realized he was looking at a carbon copy of himself. He furrowed his brow in anger and balled up his fist, "Who are you!?"

The Sasuke-copy shrugged his shoulders, and instantly moved to the side when the real Sasuke couldn't control himself any longer and threw the first punch of their bout. The copy backpedaled and suddenly withdrew four shuriken from his pouch and launched them at the real Sasuke faster than the boy anticipated, lodging one in the forearm he tried to block the impact with.

The real Sasuke watched as blood dripped down the length of his arm, but when he looked up he saw something faint flicker in the light, and soon found himself forcefully ripping the embedded shuriken out from his arm when everything in his line of sight was lit up by flames. He rolled across the courtyard and crashed into the wall, part of his leg being caught up in the surprise fire.

" **You're an Uchiha, shouldn't have you expected the wire?** " The copy of Sasuke asked jokingly as he folded his arms over each other. " **You're pathetic. Can't break a simple genjutsu. No wonder your clan was destroyed by one man, I could have done it myself too.** "

Sasuke gnashed his teeth together trying to contain his anger but ended up screaming at the mystery man, "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT MY CLAN!" He lunged himself at Sasuke-copy and threw another punch, but the copy guided his fist out the of way calmly and quickly punched him in the nose, shattering it upon impact. The Sasuke clone followed it up with a knee to Sasuke's gut and made him keel over, but grabbed the back of his shirt and prevented him from falling to the ground.

The copy stood Sasuke back up and even lifted the real boy's fist back up playfully, " **Don't lose your fighting spirit so easily! I want to at least enjoy killing you.** "

After taking two direct hits from the Sasuke-clone, the real boy found himself with wobbly knees. He was rocking back and forth, but managed to brace himself and tried to continue to fight. Before he could even attempt to make a move, the Sasuke-copy invaded his defenses and landed an open palm strike directly to his chest and sent him flying across the yard, crashing through multiple walls and landing in a pile of broken doors and excess debris.

The boy felt an aching pain all over and couldn't move at all. He took a few aggravated breaths as he saw the shadow of the Sasuke-copy creeping in through the newly created hole he created. The dark chuckles from his clone filled his ears and if he had the energy to groan, he would have done so. He was stuck looking up at an identical copy of himself, but the energy between them was very different.

The clone had a dark, malevolent aura that took lifetimes to develop, and he disguised it all in the body of a child. The real Sasuke had some dark things that he kept bottled but it would never be able to match the pure evil presence that was now standing before him. The clone looked down on Sasuke, his eyes now shining a pristine red color that he knew all too well, and the three tomoe spinning within his eyes verified what he was seeing. Somehow he had acquired an authentic Sharingan.

" **Surprised?** "

"H-how long have you been here?" Sasuke ignored the mysterious being trying get a reaction out of him and decided to pry information, while also stalling time to come up with a plan.

" **Since you decided to leave with the Toad Sage, but the bigger plan has been years in the making. I'll let you in on a secret, Uchiha, since you're not long for this planet,** " The Sasuke-copy turned his back on the real Sasuke and began making his way toward the courtyard once again. " **Konoha has been trying to ruin me and my business for years, so I decided to do the same to them. Make no mistake, this is now** _ **my**_ **village."** He lowered his head as he walked back into the courtyard and smirked to himself. Watching all of his plans come into fruition was more than enjoyable.

"Take this Rasengan!" A blonde blur came flying out of the sky with a fully charged orb of blue energy, but when then Sasuke-copy looked up and locked eyes with Naruto; the genin became completely disgruntled and tumbled onto the ground in a heap. He rolled right up to the copy's feet and had his head tilted up by the clone's foot. "Sasuke!?"

" **Wrong,** " His voice was identical to the real Sasuke's but his presence was completely different. It shook Naruto to his very core when he felt the brand of evil radiating off of the Sasuke-clone's skin. " **Both of Konoha's prized children are here, not following orders I assume.** " The clone swung his foot to the side and then planted it in the side of Naruto's head, expecting to hear a scream of pain, but instead heard a 'pop.' He quirked his eyebrows as he discovered what he just defeated was a clone. The Sasuke-copy turned around and used his stolen sharingan eyes to search for another chakra signature on the compound, but saw _nothing_.

Naruto nor Sasuke could be seen on the compound at all. There's no way two genin escaped his vision that quickly, but before he could engage; far off in the distance he could see a humongous chakra signature approaching Konoha that might have worried even the mightiest of Shinobi, but for him it made him smile.

The Sasuke-clone grinned from cheek to cheek, " **My body is here.** "

. . .

(With Kakashi)

Gravity defying white hair danced wildly in the wind as multiple explosions and shockwaves shook the entire village as it was ensued in battle. What they were fighting exactly, he wasn't sure. Ever since his trip to Kumogakure, the details of his personal missions were far from normal. No longer was is it the usual shinobi business, but investigating extraterrestrial presence throughout Hi no Kuni, and the appearance of the mysterious drug that could heal almost any wound.

He thought Kumogakure was finally coming to get their revenge, which was the most sensible option, but when he saw Goku and his sensei simply trying to fight their way out of the situation alongside the Konoha shinobi; it got rid of that notion. He sat perched on the rooftop of a now empty Konoha P.D. building that wasn't too far from the main gate with a furrowed brow.

Kakashi sent his team to help with the evacuation efforts since he wasn't sure how strong the enemy they were up against was, but he was also confident they could hold their own against any enemy that may stand in their way.

As he took a moment to plan out his next few actions, another person appeared on the Konoha PD's rooftop and approached Kakashi slowly, "Hatake-san, I come bearing bad news." The white haired shinobi turned his head to see the ANBU stopping to continue his briefing. "Hokage-sama was found dead in the Exam Arena not too long ago by Sarutobi Asuma and the Honorable Grandson. The main gate has been breached, two Konoha PD locations have been infiltrated already by men wearing desert garbs, and we're working as hard as we can to suppress the tree-monster that's terrorizing the arena. The strange enemies also seem to be conspiring with Iwagakure. There was something lodged in Lord Hokage's head we believe can be traced back to Iwagakure as well. Among the other invaders, we've gotten reports saying that the Akatsuki has also infiltrated our village, Uchiha Itachi included, but they seem to be on our side since they've been subduing the enemies dressed as desert dwellers. Where do you want to begin, Hatake-san?"

It was a lot of information to take in at once, but Kakashi digested it quickly, and also had no problem being appointed leader of stopping this invasion until they could regroup. The white haired shinobi ran a hand through his hair, as he lifted his headband to reveal his lone sharingan eye, "Split the remaining ANBU into four divisions to address each threat. Division One, round up as many of the Desert Intruders and Iwagakure shinobi as you can, dead or alive. Division Two, push back whatever forces that breached the main gate and secure it. Division three will assist the Konoha Barrier team in locking down the arena and destroying the tree. The fourth division are strictly dedicated to evacuation and healing fallen warriors. This is a fight we cannot lose."

From the inside of his sleeve slipped out a ear receiver that he handed over to Kakashi, "This is connected to the entire ANBU, should there be any updates let us know." The masked shinobi disappeared to relay the new orders, and also do his part in stopping the invasion.

"Shit."

 **. . .**

(Streets Of Konoha)

Naruto had Sasuke hoisted over his shoulder as he dashed as fast as he could away from the Uchiha compound. Sending a clone in to distract the enemy was the best plan he could come up, and was extremely surprised said enemy didn't give chase. Sasuke had been critically injured and now Naruto had to find somewhere for him to recover, "Teme, why'd you get beat up so bad!?" He asked as he ran through the empty streets of the Uchiha compound, quickly making his way out of it.

Sasuke groaned and said nothing in regards to being beaten by a copy of himself, "Put me down, I can hold my own." He twitched and twisted until Naruto finally gave up and put him on the ground. The first few steps were wobbly and when Naruto tried to help him, he smacked his hand away. "I said I'm fine!"

The injured boy dashed past Naruto and took to the roof tops to make their trip back into the village faster, and Naruto had no choice but to follow suit the hard-headed Uchiha, "Sasuke, why are you here anyway?" He asked as followed the boy who was obviously struggling to stay up but powered through it. "We were supposed go straight to the Hokage Monument, why are back at your compound!?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow, choosing not to explain his reasoning and instead turned the question on Naruto, "Why did you follow me, dobe? This was my business to handle not yours." He snapped back, glaring over his shoulder with his sharingan eyes still activated.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly, "I was wondering what you were doing." He also felt a strange presence in that area in the village, more so than everything else going on during the supposed invasion of his home that drew him in. "You can't just run off on your teammates without warning! Of course I was going to follow after you!" Naruto yelled back, still scratching his head, but this time not out of bashfulness. He managed to pick something out and opened his palm to reveal a small white bug. His eyebrow raised in curiosity, "Wh-"

The raven haired boy tackled his Uzumaki teammate off of the rooftop, both of them tumbling across the ground as they avoided being swept up by a giant white bird. Sasuke watched as said bird circled back around, and perched on top was another blonde he wasn't happy to see. The Uchiha reached in his equipment pouch and instantly threw out shuriken to try and change the giant bird's path, instead the black cloak wearing shinobi jumped off of the bird and was diving right toward the two genin.

By this time Naruto had already sprung up and formed two shadow clones that were charging at the man falling from the sky. The enemy blonde's one visible eye shifted between the two Naruto's and lifted both of his hands, two white blurs flying out of his sleeve and attaching to the clone's faces before they could even think to react. With a simple hand sign and him yelling, "Katsu!" The white blobs exploded and took the clones with them in the explosion. He emerged from the smoke with a grin as he charged head on for Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto jumped in front of Sasuke and blocked a direct punch from the man, invading his defenses and slamming his forehead into his opposers. Instead of watching the man stumble backward, Naruto was met with a power struggle as Deidara had a menacing grin on his face now. Naruto was suddenly being pushed back by the obviously stronger teenager and was wondering where Sasuke was to back him up.

The Uchiha almost got blindsided by the same bird Deidara jumped off of, rolling out of the way of the creature that somehow shrunk in size. His sharingan slowing it down immensely in his eyes, giving him enough time to react properly. He tried to generate his chakra but he had just taken a beating at the hands of an imposter pretending to be him. The boy simply used his heightened reaction time to avoid being pecked to death by a clay bird, but little did he know that was the least of his worries.

The clay construct divided in size and split off into a completely different form, turning into a snake that was now slithering up Sasuke's leg and threatening to bite down, causing Sasuke to freeze. He looked down at his leg with wide eyes, and then looked up and watched as Naruto slid through the dirt, crashing at his feet. Similar to him, there was a clay animal latched around his arm.

Deidara's clay bird had shrunken down in size enough for it to perch on his shoulder as he approached the two downed genin, "Give up, un. Just come with me if you don't want to die, because I will kill you if you don't cooperate." He would get in worlds of trouble if he let the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and Itachi's little brother die, but he needed to intimidate the kids nonetheless. He pressed his fingers into a tiger seal, flaring up his chakra to show the kids he wasn't bluffing.

Both Naruto and Sasuke could feel the clay animal attached to them heating up immensely and watched them come to the brink of exploding, but died back down as Deidara released the seal and grinned.

"We're not going anywhere," Sasuke spat out with confidence, despite the bind they were in.

 **. . .**

 **(Unknown Area)**

Deidara's fascination with warehouses was something Pepper was having a hard time understanding. He didn't know if it gave his superior the ultimate super villain vibe or something, but whenever it was time to execute a mission on the Akatsuki's behalf, he and Bali were stuck inside of a dimly lit building while their 'leader' ran wild on the outside. Most of the work for this mission was complete, and now they were only missing one key piece before they could return home.

All lined up next to each other on the floor of the warehouse were multiple 'civilians' and a few shinobi from Konoha tied up by the ankles and arms. A majority of them were passed out except for one lone teenage girl who's emerald eyes were locked on Pepper and the boy was growing to be uncomfortable. He looked away and watched his teammate Bali holding a scanner gun, pressing random buttons and squinting his barely visible eyes in frustration trying to figure out how it worked. The boy heard Bali growl lowly and saw the scanner light up a bright color and explode, bits and pieces of the device flying everywhere.

The freckle faced boy furrowed his brow, as he got up from his seat and walked over to a set of backpacks and unfurled a scroll quickly. He unsealed another identical scanner gun and powered it on, the screen lighting up and displaying his options, "I'll do it, I guess." He sighed as he pressed the 'trigger' and walked to the start of the line of bodies on the floor. A green ray of light scanned over the first body and beeped twice.

With his hands in his pocket Bali approached the first body and flipped it over so he could see the man's face, "Heh, fucker. Undo his seal and then move on to the next one." Pepper nodded and did as instructed, kicking the body over again so his back was facing up, and revealed a seal that kept up humanoid disguise. With a simple hand seal the workings of the fuinjutsu were quickly undone and the body of the disguised alien began to morph. He was originally a stubby orange being with no hair and pointed ears, retaining the clothes he wore in Konohagakure. "Identity?"

Pepper looked at the screen of his scanner gun, "His name is Sage, he's a Makyan. He didn't reproduce. Apparently he's been on Earth for thirty years."

"Well today's his last day," Bali snickered as they continued the process of unsealing the disguised aliens and identifying them. With upwards of about forty bodies, it was going to be a while, but it was a process Bali enjoyed. Seeing how these runaway aliens completely changed their life to avoid death, imprisonment, or the simple wish of escaping their home planet was beyond entertaining.

On the other side of the room, the Kumogakure native who had been spirited away and forced into the Akatsuki ranks watched with his temporary teammate Karin. This was the second set of aliens they rounded up since the beginning of the day, and he lost count of how many transfers he witnessed since they were stationed in Konoha. While he was in the forest of death collecting data on potential aliens that came from other villages, Deidara, Bali, and Konan were rounding up the aliens that had long since found refuge in Konoha; sending them to the prison he heard so much about.

First Pepper did an x-ray and identified them, then they undid the 'Ginga-Henge,' which was a much more complex version of the simple academy technique he learned. Whoever the first rogue extra-terrestrial was created this seal, passed it down, and it was now being sold on the black market according to Bali. Once each body was identified and unsealed, someone needed to create a new space-time seal to send all of the rogue aliens to the Akatsuki base. That skill was taught specifically to Karin due to her Uzumaki lineage, and seeing that they were close to being done she jumped off of the crate she was sitting on and started prepping.

His role in all of this was simply supplying strong enough chakra along with Bali to power the seal. The boy lazily pulled on his drawstrings as he watched Pepper coming to the last few people with his x-ray scanner gun. The green beam scanned over the body and he lifted the screen close to his face to read the info it generated, "Haruno Kizashi, a civilian, or at least that was what he was pretending to be." Pepper said to Bali as he handled the unconscious man. "Let's undo the last of these seals, I'm getting tired."

"You're too young to be tired, kid," Bali spat in response as he kicked Kizashi around so his back was facing up. "Get his wife and kid next," He said as he turned to look at the older woman and daughter who were lying next to each other. Bali noticed that the pink-haired girl was awake and staring a hole into his head. "You're a resilient one," he joked as he remembered capturing Sakura the day before, but apparently not knocking her out good enough. "Scan her next, Pepper."

"Shouldn't I unseal her dad first?"

Bali shrugged, "I'm more interested to see what she's hiding."

Before Pepper could walk over and flip her over to undo her seal, the door of their warehouse burst open and now they were on high alert. The freckle faced bomber's shoulders dropped once he realized it was Deidara with two teenage boys hoisted around his shoulders. He saw an orange jumpsuit and an Uchiha crest, "Seriously?"

"You know it, un," He grinned as he tossed the boys on the ground at the end of the line. "Found the fox and Itachi's little brother on my way back here. They didn't put up much of a figh-"

"HEY I HAD YOU ON THE ROPES!" Naruto screamed out at the older blonde as he tried to squirm free.

"It took me less than five minutes to catch both of you," Deidara cleared up Naruto's false accusations and placed his hands on his hips, turning to face Bali and Pepper. "You're not done transferring, un!?"

"Don't rush me," Bali growled in response. His eyes turned back to Kizashi but he was distracted once again.

"SAKURA-CHAN!?" Naruto blurted out and tried to worm his way toward the girl across the floor, but found his head being lifted up and bashed against the ground repeatedly by Bali. He didn't stop until Naruto's face was bloodied. Sasuke almost moved his lips in protest but the icy glare from the strange being known as Bali made his lips stay sealed. Naruto groaned in pain and couldn't bring himself to say anything else.

"Apply the same silencer seal to the kids as everyone else, red-head," Bali ordered of Karin and she nodded simply.

Having been long since silenced, Sakura could only look on in horror as her teammates were close to receiving the same fate as her. She had been abducted from her home the morning before the exams started, and all of this talk of aliens and refugees still confused her. Her entire life she was convinced her parents had forgone the Shinobi life because they weren't strong enough, but really they were hiding from inter-galactic authorities.

"Let's just skip to the end, un, we don't have to unseal everybody," Deidara waved off nonchalantly, having waited too long to send the second set of extraterrestrials for the day. "We've got a quota to meet." The blonde turned to face N, motioning for him to come help generate chakra for the seal to activate. He, Bali, Pepper, and Karin all stood on a side of the large seal. The four of them activated a tiger seal and watched as the seal formation Karin prepared started to light up an electric blue.

The first body in the line lit up the same color as the seal, the body appearing to disengrate into thin air. The process continued for each body, the warehouse emptying out due to the four Akatsuki members. As the transfer process continued, person by person disappearing, Bali's eyebrow quirked for a moment as they sent them to the base, "Feel that?"

Pepper's eyebrow raised as well, "Wait."

 **. . .**

 **(On Top Of The Warehouse)**

"So this is what you do for the entire day?"

"Yes."

"Nothing else?"

"Yes."

"Well this is kind of boring."

"I KNO- I know, Slug, please," The man wearing the black helmet head snapped toward his new teammate, hoping he would calm down. He was beginning to lose his patience with the newcomer, having long since come to grips with how monotonous his job was. Throughout all the madness going on in Konoha at the moment, the two found themselves listening closely to a device emitting a slow metronome and waiting for an oddity.

The new agent reared his head back sighed and nodded in understanding. He wore an identical black helmet, the difference between them is that he wore a long black cloak, and the standard shinobi sandals, while his teammate wore body armor and combat boots relative to soldiers from outer space, "Nōka-san, we've been here for days. I don't think we'll find what we're looking fo-"

"This is your first outing," Nōka reminded Slug, tapping his temple with his index finger. He continued to listen despite his subordinate losing faith in the operation. "Sometimes it takes weeks, even months for the tracker to pick up on the radiation of a seed. Just have patience," Nōka tried to reiterate for Slug to understand, but he heard the man groan and come to a stand. The superior simply shook his head and continued to do his job.

Slug turned his back on Nōka and took in the view of Konoha, they weren't far from the main gate. Off in the distance he saw a giant toad trying to pretend the gate, blocking his view of anything else beyond that. When the beeping from the device began to speed up and get louder, Slug turned around to face Nōka, "What's happening?"

"A lot of chakra being generated underneath us, we may have to move," Nōka said calmly, sighing as he did so and moved to get up, no longer facing Slug as he packed his things up. "Maybe you should go check it ou-" When he turned around once more all he saw were faint traces of yellow where Slug once stood. He furrowed his brow, not expecting the man to disappear that fast. "It's going to take a while to get used to that."

In an instant he was at the floor of the building, managing to find a way in the building he and Nōka previously scouted when they were setting up for their mission. For the most part it was dark as he navigated his way through it, hearing low rumblings coming from a room not to far away. He crouched low and crawled to stay hidden, pressing his back against the wall so he could start to hear what was going on in the room. A bright blue light shone from the under the door, making his brow quirk out of curiosity.

"Wait," Pepper's hands fell to his side as he turned toward the doorway. "Deidara go outside and check what's going on."

"HOLD ON, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TELL _ME_ WHAT TO DO, UN," Deidara snapped back but then angrily stormed out of the room to investigate what was going on outside. He walked right past the hiding Slug and went all the way outside of the building. He placed his hands on his hips when the pale sunlight hit his face, but nothing out of the ordinary was going on. The man sighed and turned around to re-enter the building a split second too late.

" _Slug, get out the warehouse is about blow_ ," over a radio signal, Slug heard the voice of Nōka and tapped into his communicator.

" _But there are civilians in here,_ " Slug responded with a hint of concern in his voice.

" _Not our business, ge-_ " Slug threw his communicator off and created two clones, busting into the warehouse's main room moving like a blur. There were roughly about ten civilians left and he only had a split second to get them all out before the warehouse was blown to smithereens, but as he dashed he saw red-sharingan eyes notice him as clear as day even though no one else took notice of his presence yet, and he was lying down next to a mop of blonde hair that nearly made him freeze. The slight lapse in time threw him off enough for a outstretched alien fist to slam into his chest and knock him off course.

One of his clones covered his error and erupted in yellow energy, multiple arms sprouting out from his back and grabbing the first few civilians before disappearing in a yellow flash, while the other one was destroyed by N who's hand was still smoking from firing off the explosive energy. Pepper was holding N's forearm forcing him to do it, while Karin did nothing but panic. Deidara immediately came rushing back into the building.

"WHAT THE H-"

The entire building shook violently before being swallowed in bright light.

 **. . .**

 **(Outside The Warehouse)**

Nōka face twisted in horror as he witnessed the sector of the village they were scouting be completely wiped off of the map by a wayward missile that came from the main gate, the warehouse being the penetration point. He avoided certain death by ascending into the air and watching from a bird's eye view. He warned Slug to leave and he didn't listen. He covered his face with his hand, " _We might have lost him on his first outi-_ " a hand suddenly gripping on his ankle made him looking down to see Slug with his cloak completely destroyed. The only thing that remained in tact was his helmet concealing his identity.

He was badly burned, while multiple bodies were freefalling toward the crater that was created by the explosion. Nōka looked on in general disinterest, shaking his ankle strong enough to make Slug lose his grip and fall to the ground with the remainder of the people he had saved from death inside the warehouse against his orders. The masked man folded his arms and shook his head, " _Yeah, he's alive._ "

Slug, along with the other survivors hit the ground with a hard thud; his chest heaving as he tried to calm the adrenaline rushing through his body down. His head turned limply to the side to see who he managed to save, counting heads. He saw that all of the Akatsuki managed to survive the blast with him, the Haruno family, and the lone Uchiha. They were all in critical condition, but they were at least alive and that was all that mattered.

He saw Nōka descending from the air slowly, but the man was suddenly blocked out of his view when a large object flew overhead casting a shadow over the entire village and distracted him, "Is that a bird?"

 **. . .**

 **Guess who's computer crashed and lost everything he was working on? Some unlucky bastard, but he switched to the cloud, so he's working exclusively on Google Docs from now on. Updates semi-regular from now on hopefully now that I tried to reconstruct what I remember from what I originally wrote. If you follow my second story Death Is Irrelevant (Bleach X Naruto story) I'll be updating soon, and even adding a new story in a matter of weeks. Let's hope life is wavy from here.**


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